Ordinary Days
by pahlee
Summary: Set after the end of the manga, this story has affairs of the heart at stake, honor, trust, and pride. Akane's determination for a future will be the resolve for the couple, as long as the plan goes accordingly. Ranma/Akane. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1: Misunderstanding

**Disclaimer: **Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 1: Misunderstanding

Above the treetops the birds sang their lovely tunes as it intermingled with the chatter of student's overlapping conversations with one another. The haze emitted from the sun allotted the atmosphere to feel almost _too _warm, but perfect none-the-less. A few white clouds floated delicately through the bright blue sky, sometimes hiding the sun for a moment before reappearing. On the rooftop sat a couple, taking joy in their lunch break.

Akane let out a sigh as she turned her head to her sleeping companion, watching his chest rise and fall as a soft snore escaped from him. She smiled down at him before turning her head to look at the students below in the field, "How lazy…" she muttered to herself as she drew her knees to her chin. "_He didn't even bother to say if the food was good_," she thought to herself as she let out another sigh, "_I worked so hard on it too…_" A grunt, followed by a stir, caught her attention as she watched Ranma shift into another position, resuming his nap.

"_So carefree_," she thought to herself as she looked at his sleeping form and smiled once again, "…_he looks so peaceful. I'll let it pass this time, you _jerk." She laughed to herself silently as she clutched her knees closer and started to hum a little tune.

Her soft voice carried into the young sleeping martial artist's ears, a smile appearing at the corner of his lips as he listened. He was glad he turned his back to her; otherwise, he would have been too embarrassed to show how much her actions affected him. His heart raced a little faster as he listened to his companion hum. Suddenly, words replaced the hum as she sang softly, as to not wake her friend, and sang she did, beautifully. Ranma loved her voice, in every form.

"If only, I could tell you how I really feel," Akane sang, slowing her words as she let the last line slip from between her lips, "About you, about us…about how much I really love you."

Ranma's stomach felt like it was being grabbed and twisted, his heart beating faster and his face flashed red. "_It's only a song!" _he harshly thought to himself,_ "It's not like she meant it for ya! A song! A stupid…_" he rolled over and sat up as he stared at Akane, who caught his glance – in a hurry, she tried to turn away, but was too late as Ranma reached out with both his hands, taking her face in them and pulled her to him. His lips clumsily found hers, allowing for a gentle kiss for a moment. But, it only took that one moment to feel the passion between the two as he pulled away, blushing and looked up at the sky, ".._a stupid song_."

"**MR. SAOTOME**!"

He jerked up, letting out a surprised gasp as he watched Ms. Hinako tap her foot on the ground; she stood next to his desk with a scowl on her face. "Whaddya want?" Ranma replied as he let out a yawn and sat back in his seat to get more comfortable, then thinking, "_Dammit, was all that a dream_?" He quickly shot a glance over to Akane, she was not looking at him like the rest of the class was, and instead her eyes bore onto the board as she wrote the assignment down.

"No one sleeps during _my_ class time!" Ms. Hinako said, "Into the hallway!" She said in a last moment before she fluttered her arms, "NOW!"

"Ok, geez," Ranma said getting up from his desk looking at the child-like teacher as he walked out of the classroom, but not without taking one last look at Akane who was now staring at him, with a what-did-you-get-yourself-into-now expression plastered on her face, mixed with a probably-serves-you-right smirk. Ranma rolled his eyes, "_Pft, oblivious as always_," he muttered as he stepped into the hallway and held onto the two buckets of water as punishment.

The bell rang for lunch and Ranma's freedom. He purged his hands into his pockets as he realized he left his bento at home, he pulled out to hold a fluff of lint and 100 yen, "_Dammit, this won't even get me curry bread!_" His stomach growled, he groaned, and thought about his situation – it was not all that bad! After all, he had Ukyo or Shampoo to turn to, they never hesitated to give him free food! He laughed to himself as he turned to run toward Ucchan's to get lunch when he caught a quick glimpse of something, nay, some_body_.

Akane.

He stopped as he pulled himself behind end of the wall, he peered around and stared at the short blue-haired girl as she laughed and conversed with her partner. On a closer look, her partner appeared to be a boy. "_Who the hell is that? Come to think of it…_" Ranma pulled himself away from the present situation to think, "_She didn't look for me when the bell rang…_" But laughter interrupted his train of thought as he peered back to see Akane and the boy laugh. Anger seemed to erupt in Ranma. Honestly! He could not be feeling _jealous_ over this, right?

Akane is allowed friends, sure, but they had to be _girl _friends, not _boy_ friends! At least, that was what Ranma had proclaimed, to _himself_. He was about to go over there and do something in defiance, but stopped himself.

_What am I doing? Akane would kill me if I just waltzed right up ta' them and yell at her! I gotta' think this through…Maybe he really is just a 'friend'._

He looked back over, he had thought too early as he saw the boy lean in and kiss Akane on the cheek. Ranma felt his heart clench as he saw that Akane, in no way or form of fashion, even try to move away – instead, she smiled her rare smile. Now, _that_, was the last straw.

"AKANE!" he screamed, angrily walking towards the two.

"Ranma?" Akane said, with surprise in her voice.

"WHO THE HELL IS HE?" Ranma, in a sense, roared at her.

"EH! WHAT'S IT TO YOU?" Akane replied, anger now seeping into her words.

"EVERYTHING!" was all Ranma could rebut, but apparently Akane had other plans. She pulled on her partner's hands and began to walk away, "Like hell I'll talk to you with that tone!" she sharply whispered and turned her back to him. This, more than anything, unsettled Ranma even more and was about to grab her when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder.

He looked behind him to see a tear-stricken Kuno. "_What the f—" _Ranma thought as he looked at him, "Whaddya think ya' doin'?"he blurted as he took hold of the end of his wrist and flung him forward. Kuno, in a heap on the ground, looked up at Ranma, "Saotome, vile sorcerer! You've not only stole away my beauteous Akane, but allowed her to be wooed by another suitor, in front of both our eyes no less!" Ranma raised his foot as he slammed Kuno's head into the ground, students all around craned their necks, then lost interest – this happened on a daily basis, but it was still fun to watch Kuno get pummeled.

"Get yer head outta ya' butt," Ranma spat, "Akane was never yours in the first place." He turned to leave, determined to find out who the boy Akane was with when he heard a harsh, but soft, whisper, "Neither yours," followed by a thump as Kuno laid unconscious on the ground.

Ranma threw away the last words of Kuno in his mind, what _right_ did he have to say that to _him_? He knew Akane was repulsed by the very being of Kuno! "_But, what about me?_" he thought, but also brushed that thought away as he saw Akane's blue hair up ahead. He turned and skidded to stand next to her and her _suitor_. He grabbed onto Akane's shoulder and huffily, turned her around to have her eye-to-eye, which was hard since he was a good head taller than her. As soon as he did, he regretted it as he saw that her eyes were puffy from the tears that fell freely from her eyes and the genuine look of fear in her eyes shot through him, piercing his heart.

"What the hell did you do to Akane?" Ranma turned to the boy to question, glaring at him with an utmost feeling of hate. _If he laid so much as a finger on her…_

"Stop it, Ranma," he heard Akane say through her stifling sobs, "He didn't cause m-my tears," Ranma turned his attention back to Akane, his brows furrowing to an v to look into her eyes, "…"

"It was you."

The Tendo household seemed peaceful this afternoon, but Kasumi was not in the kitchen preparing snacks and Nabiki never came home that afternoon as she went with friends, and the two fathers away on _mission_ in the next town over. In fact, it gave a weird feeling to know that Kasumi would not be there to offer snacks when the teenagers came home, although she offered the same luxury in her new home if they ever came there after school.

For three years, the Saotome's and Tendo's lived under the same roof. In that time span, the (then) 22-year-old Kasumi married Ono Tofu and left the Tendo home. Leaving the housework to whoever grasped it, this ended up to be Akane—whose cooking was replaced by carry-outs and microwavable meals.

So, it was not a surprise when a crying Akane came bursting through the door to forget her eldest sister would not be there to greet her, to comfort her, as soon as she got home. She had forgotten, and allowed herself to go to her room, locking the door behind her as she lay in bed. She recalled the incident that happened at noon.

It was the first time he ever struck her, the first time he fell after her in a series of apologizes as she just walked away slowly, then sprinting away in a series of long strides, no longer holding back her tears as they fell. Akane buried her face into her pillow, sobbing.

_Stupid jerk, he didn't even let me have a chance to explain. He d-didn't have to go so far as to hit me! Stupid, stupid…._

She fell asleep muttering the word, "stupid", as the feeling of exhaustion caught up to her and passed out. Her mind wandered into dreamland where there was no fighting, just her and the field of flowers she often would dream about.

In school, Ranma had left as soon as Akane ran from him, he knew she was going home, to her room…to cry because of him, _again_. But this time, it was different, he knew he would not get the chance to talk with her calmly, he shuddered and his heart broke into more pieces as he recollected the feeling of her cheek against his palm.

He did not know why he did it, but he did and there was no way he could change that. After all his promises, all his talk – it was him! He wanted nothing more than to hurt himself a thousand times over for ever laying a hand on Akane. "_Dammit Akane, what are you doing to me?_" he thought to himself as he ran home.

Inside, he saw Akane's shoes at the door, looking out of place as they were her school shoes. He took his off and went up the stairs, he rested his hand on the doorknob, and stopped. What was he going to do now? Even if she let him in, which was most likely_ not_ going to happen, what would he say to her? Sorry would not be enough! Sweat beaded against his chin, sliding down the side of his face as he stood there nervously.

"Akane?" he whispered softly as he perched his ear to the door.

He heard the quiet rhythm of her breathing, he noted that she probably fell asleep. Trying the doorknob, he found it was locked – no surprise there. He stood away from the familiar door and just stared at the door. He hurt her. Not just mentally, but…physically. He looked down at his hand once again, and he swore to himself that he had not even hit her that hard.

"DAMMIT!" he cursed as he punched the wall behind him, seeing the pieces fall to the ground, he stomped his way to his room.

Akane jolted up when she heard the impact and stared at her door, "Ranma." She whispered as she pressed her ear against the door to hear his retreating footfalls and opened the door, just ever so slightly. She saw the hole in the wall, and let out a sigh, "Stupid, he's gonna have to patch that up before our dads get back." She went back to her bed, leaving her door unlocked, and pulled her knees to her chest.

She placed one hand on her cheek where Ranma slapped her and let out a breath she did not know she was holding, "Ranma, you jerk…even when you're angry at_ me_, you still hold back." She looked at the door and titled her head, it was not the fact that he had struck her, but how he talked to her that made her sad. He always did have that tone of arrogance, but Akane felt that she was put down. Always being compared to her _fiancée_, Akane thought that she could confide in someone about that, not her sisters or friends – someone she knew who would listen to her without any bias.

So she had turned to her cousin, who came by that afternoon at lunch and greeted her with a familiar kiss on the cheek, the way most family familiars would—nothing behind it, but Ranma went and took it the wrong way.

_It's not like he really cares, he just doesn't want his ego, or rather his reputation to go down that he can't have _all_ the girls. He's so stupid. Why did I have to fall in love with someone like him?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**_: _Okay! After re-reading this, and editing on my own accord, I present to you Chapter 1! It's not much, more like a filler chapter (already!) but it will set the basis of the story, the plot? Well, you'll just have to keep reading, don't you? :D I think this story will about 10 chapters in length (more or less). See you at the next update!


	2. Chapter 2: Hello

**Disclaimer:** Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 2: Hello

The sun had set long ago, but no one had stirred in the house. With a sigh, Akane got up from her bed and started out but caught her reflection. Looking at the mirror, she held up a hand and slid it down the frame of her face; her eyes were red and her cheeks just a bit puffy from crying. She turned the lights off in her room and slowly descended downstairs.

At the foot of the stairs, she glanced at the clock that hung on the wall: 10:18.

It was late, and fully aware that nothing in the kitchen would suffice, she decided for once that she would go out and get something to eat, by _herself_. Besides, the young girl thought, sometimes she ought to treat herself once-in-a-while.

Making a quick trip back up to her room, she changed into one of her simpler outfits she adores. An oversized t-shirt that hung loosely around her shoulders and shorts that reached the top of her knees. It was a modest outfit, and that was just fine – it was what she was comfortable with. Akane grabbed her bag, checking for her wallet and keys she headed out. At the gate, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. She saw that the light flickered in the guest room and a shadow was casted, she shook her head and shut the gate behind her as she walked down the streets to the busy night life of Nerima.

"Dammit," Ranma muttered as he walked across the room, picking up a shirt that lay on the ground and taking a whiff of it, "This needs to be washed too!" He growled as he threw it to the pile next to the door. In a haste to do something, he choose the most trivial – sorting dirty laundry.

Over half the day had since passed since he last heard or seen Akane, or for that matter any_one_. Ranma did not mind the latter, but he was still upset about his actions earlier that afternoon. He tried to justify the scene in his mind many times…but every time it ending with him hitting her.

Why did he do that?

He had no intention of hitting her, where did that impulse come from? The look, _that look_, of pure horror and fear replayed in his mind as he looked into her eyes. Tears had started to form at this point and his heart could not take what he had done.

Ranma shook his head, he felt the tears form but blinked them away.

The lights were bright at night as Akane made her way through the streets, she never realized just how busy Nerima could be at night! The only other times she was actually out this late at night, she was being dragged across the city with angry yells back-and-forth between parties. She shook her head, she did not want to think about that right now. Her stomach growled as she smiled a little, "I wonder what's good to eat…" she whispered.

At this point, she was angry at herself. She had every intention of going out to eat, but _where_ to eat? She had no clue! Her father never let her out pass curfew (10:00 PM), let alone by herself, so she had no idea what was still open or what was closed.

"You look good enough to eat," she heard a voice say.

She cringed, her left eye twitched as she turned around, ready to bash the pervert for making such a lewd comment at her when he finished, "…Excuse me for that miss, but you do look absolutely beautiful if you don't mind me saying that."

Akane stared at the stranger for a moment, she was used to guys using lame pick-up lines at school, and Kuno's antics just made her plain annoyed – but this _stranger_ had the decency to apologize and then comment on her in a positive manner.

He stared at her for a moment, with an honest smile on his face, "My name is Nagato Hiro, but I'd prefer Hiro," he extended out his hand, Akane stared at it with disbelief as she slowly reached out and shook it, "Tendo Akane," she said.

"May I call you Akane?" he asked, in such a sweet tone that made Akane blush.

"Y-yes, Hiro-san," she muttered.

"Hmm, just Hiro would suffice," he said as he bent forward a little to catch her eye-to-eye, "Would you like to join me for something to eat?"

"Uhh," Akane thought about Ranma at that moment, what would he think about this whole situation? Hell, she knew the consequences, just look at what he thought when she was with her cousin! But part of her heart dropped as though she felt like she was betraying Ranma in a way – quickly she pushed that thought away.

It did not matter! Ranma had his other _cute_ fiancées anyways! What is one gentleman to Akane's friendship, it is not like she and Ranma had a _relationship_. Any ties she had with Ranma, he always denied – publically no doubt! And back a few years, when they were in China she had thought she heard him say that he loved her…but her heart played that awful trick on her and she knew her answer when he told her the day of the ruined wedding that he said no such thing.

No hope.

Except…the person who stood in front of her now – Hiro, with his endearing smile and honest face, he was _hope_.

"S-sure, that'd be lovely Hiro," she smiled sweetly, giving off her best smile.

Hiro's heart seemed to jolt as he watched the girl smile at his offer. "_That smile could melt the sun!_" he thought to himself as he walked side-by-side with her, "_I wonder if she will think me rude to ask why she is out all by herself this late…_"

Akane blushed as she kept her strides even with Hiro, he was the same height as Ranma, if not a bit taller. He had a slight build to his body, so she knew he must be in some sort of athletic pursuit or something, but he had such a cute, _no_..a handsome face that made her flush. Any thought or Ranma seemed to vanish as Hiro opened the door for her at the restaurant called "Project!"

Inside was a modern-themed bar/restaurant with booming colors and soft pop music playing in the background. She never been in a place like this before, and it was just something _different_ that made her senses appeased and she turned to her friend and smiled, "It's so pretty in here…"

"It got even prettier when you set foot in it," he winked.

Akane blushed, she was not used to being complimented in such a manner and it was…quite nice. It was different from her usual tirade that came with Ranma. Oh! Ranma, she had already forgotten about him! She blushed at this thought, but quickly lost the muster as she recalled the list of insults he called her, "_Tomboy! Built like a brick! Thick thighs!..._"

She held back the tears as she smiled at Hiro and thanked him. They were seated shortly afterwards and they chatted, as if they have known each other for years…

He yawned as he put the basket down in the changing room laundry basket, he turned the lights off and went into the kitchen. He was starving! Ranma had not had the chance to even eat lunch because of that _incident_, but his dinner was forgotten as he tried to busy himself with remedial tasks to keep his mind off Akane.

Too bad that is what he always thought about. Akane this, Akane that…Akane.

His thoughts recalled the first time he met her, with that smile that always took him by surprise and melts his very being, the words leaving her lips, "Hello! I'm Akane, wanna be friends?"

He reached out to his neck and rubbed it as he muttered, "Hello Akane, I'm Ranma…and I'm in love with you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yeah, I know...I brought in an OC. (Honestly I was going to use like Ryoga or something, but I decided this was a better route). I mean, how else will Ranma learn his lesson? Haha, don't worry guys I'm a Ranma/Akane _fangirl_ remember? But, Hiro (also an OC appearing in the doujinshi I'm writing about Ranma 1/2) is a character who is pretty much either vital or unnecessary in this story and that is up to you (the reader!) to decide. I'll tell you my reasoning in later chapters!

Thank you for reading! :) By the way, the big spaces in-between the chapters symbolize a "scene change".


	3. Chapter 3: Feelings

**Disclaimer: **Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 3: Feelings

Nabiki rubbed her arms as she clutched her jacket around her a little bit tighter as she walked the streets with her friends. They chatted aimlessly about the newest magazine articles that speculated the best new bands and new fashion atrocities that other people wore for this season.

"Hey, isn't that your little sister," one of her friends started, "Akane?"

Nabiki turned her eyes over to where her friend was pointing and sure enough, "Hell, that is!"

They scurried over to the windows of the restaurant _Project! _and peered in, watching Akane and her company. "That's not Ranma!" one of her friends gasped, "Who is that, Nabiki?"

She scrunched her eyes, her nose contorting in an upward position as she realized – she did not know. How did she, Nabiki Tendo, not know who this _man_ accompanying her _little_ sister is! It irked her somewhat to see that her friend was right, that it was not Ranma at all – but some stranger!

"What is she…" Nabiki muttered as she pulled out her camera and snapped photos of the couple. She weighed her options, she could sell this information to Ranma, _fat chance, he wouldn't have enough money to purchase it_, or confront Akane, black-mailing her with this. Her trademark sneer made its way to her face, but suddenly disappeared as she saw her sister laugh, a _true_ laugh.

She stood up, taken back by what she just saw and thought to herself, "_Akane looks so happy…she's really enjoying herself_," the camera with the undeveloped film sat in her hands as her friends were murmuring amongst each other.

"Come on," Nabiki's voice called out, "I'll let her be _today_, we still have to finish the business we came out here for," she lied, she just wanted to let her sister have this moment, after all Ranma would never do something like this for her.

Inside the restaurant, Akane flustered pink at every compliment that Hiro seemed to flash at her. She thanked him over a thousand times and told him it was unnecessary. Yet, he brushed it aside and let some slip here and there.

Their entrees were Akane's highlight of the night; she never ate such an amazing tasting salmon in her whole life! She rejoiced in the flavor and Hiro laughed at her antics.

"You are so cute, you know that?" he said as he dabbed some rice off her cheek with a napkin, over the table, "You never told me, what you're doing out so late, by yourself."

Akane blushed, she turned her head away for a moment and regained her composure, she smiled at him, "I just wanted a change," she nodded. He smiled as he looked into her eyes and felt such strong compassion behind them.

Their meal was concluded after an hour of them just talking, about any general topic two strangers could tread upon. She found out that Hiro has a younger sister, her name is Aoi he said proudly, and that he himself is 19 years old and is attending college. His favorite color is green, and so were his eyes. She knew that he preferred cherries over strawberries, and that he never once went a school dance.

Akane smiled at Hiro, thinking that anything that happened today was just a dream, and that this was too. It was chilly when they left, Hiro had taken off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. They looked at each other, staring into one another's eyes for the longest time.

To recall a memory such as that, Akane could name maybe three. Each time ending in something disappointing and heart wrenching she never brought it back up. Hiro gave a sweet smile as he leaned downwards and left a small kiss on her cheek, "I apologize if I was too forward," he whispered in her ear.

Shivers ran through her spine, her breath quickening and her heart racing as she watched him pull back and gaze at her intently.

"I-it's fine," she said blushing as she tugged on the jacket, "But, it's getting so late – I have to go home now."

He stepped back and smiled down at her, "I understand, let me walk you home."

_(...)_

They stood at the gate, standing side-by-side when they exchanged good-byes. Akane lifted the jacket off her shoulders and proceeded to hand it back, but Hiro reached out and gently pushed it back in her arms, "Keep it, to remember me by," he said.

She blushed as she nodded, gave her last good-bye and watched the boy leave. He gave one glance over his shoulder and sent her a good-bye smile.

Her heart steadied as she opened the gate and entered silently. Leaving her shoes at the door, she tip-toed her way upstairs. At the top, she noticed the light under the guest room still flickering. "_Is Ranma still awake?_" she was astonished, "_It's so late…_"

But, she shook her head reluctantly and went to her room. She changed into her pajamas and got into her bed, as soon as her head touched the pillow she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Ranma had heard the door open, he peered his head out his window to see Akane closing the gate behind her.

_It's practically midnight, where the hell did she go? _

He narrowed his eyes at her, and then his heart dropped as he saw an unfamiliar jacket clutched to her chest – a man's jacket.

Ranma pulled his head back into the room, shutting the window silently as he sat on his futon listening to the soft patter of footsteps come up the staircase, stop, then resume with a soft closing sound of a door.

He let out a sigh.

_(...)_

The next morning was a Saturday, so when Akane woke up to get ready for her morning jog, she was in no rush. Turning her body to get out of bed, her eyes caught a glimpse of the jacket she brought in last night, her mouth curled into an o and she muttered, "I thought that was a dream…"

Standing up, she picked up the jacket and stared at it with her arms stretched out in front of her. "_He said his name was Hiro, right?_" she thought as she turned it over in her hands, "_…I shouldn't keep this. I-I'll donate it to the shelter,_" she put it back down on her bed and shook her head. "_I can't keep a token like that…it's just too much_."

After a moment of debating what to do with the jacket, she put on her jogging clothes and started her morning. Outside, she huffed silently as the steady rise and fall of her chest fell in the pattern of her jog. Intently focused on the path ahead of her, she failed to notice someone following her.

He watched her with narrowed eyes, following her path but in another part of his mind, his heart began to beat faster and a red hue covered his cheeks. Torn between the two emotions, Ranma kept his pace with his fiancee, only a few steps behind her at a time. "_What am I doing?_" he screamed to himself, "_Why am I getting all bothered right now? I mean, she's not even wearin' that jacket…_" He took note of what she wore: a light tank top and shorts, her norm.

It is entirely too bad that Ranma is also a hormonally driven teenager in love, but seeing someone he intended to one day marry clad in such little clothing allowed his brain to formulate perverted thoughts, causing his red faced demeanor as he followed her.

After her route, Akane stopped and caught her breath outside of the gate of her home. A quick snap caught her attention as she turned briskly around and called out, "Who's there?" With no answer, she dropped her façade and let out a sigh of relief. She groaned as she clasped her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, "Just great," she muttered as she walked inside.

Ranma's breathing was uneven as he fought to crouch where he was. She had almost caught him! He was too busy thinking such lewd thoughts he was caught unaware of the loose gravel beneath him that flung against the wall beside him and created a small noise. He peered over the corner and saw her retreat inside with a hand to her head, his eyes narrowed again as he caught his even breathing and followed behind her.

Standing at the gate, he thought what he could do to possibly make it up to her for his actions yesterday. He stared down at his hand and shuddered as he recalled the impact of his hit, then her eyes that spoke of fear, of _him_. His other hand clenched tightly, he headed back inside thinking of way to make it up to her. Somehow…

Akane had already finished her bath and changed into some casual clothes: nothing extravagant, just another oversized shirt and shorts that came right at her knees and a tank-top underneath the shirt. She sat in the family room, flicking through the channels with the remote and finally settled on a children's anime when Ranma came inside. She glanced up and for a moment their eyes met, but she quickly moved away and turned her attention back to the television set.

Ranma's heart sank at the action, it was only for a moment until she turned away – he felt the guilt rise up in him and he began to stutter his words, "G-good morning."

Without looking Akane replied, with indifference, "Morning."

He stood under the arch of the door frame as he watched her profile, his knees felt weak, unable to support his weight (and the guilt) that resided in him. "Uh," he began but was interrupted with, "I didn't make any breakfast, and Nabiki isn't home yet…so you'll have to get your own."

In disbelief, he stared at her, she was being so calm but in a manner that ran shivers up his spine, and not the _good_ kind either. Instead of saying anything else, he just gave curt nod and left. Akane sighed as she heard him walk away, and she put her hand to her cheek and mumbled, "I forgive you, stupid."

_(...)_

Why he was in the kitchen seemed to astonish him, his stomach overruled his rational thoughts and brought him here instead of with her, apologizing, begging to be forgiven, to ask for another chance.

_Or make another promise I might break?_

He stopped in his tracks as that thought flitted across his mind. "No…" he silently whispered. It was a mistake and he knew it – an accident, even until now he did not know what overcame him to strike her. It was not even a big deal! Nothing compared to any other obstacle that came in their way – but, but…

His mind wandered to the scene he stumbled across last night, her walking home late with some _man_'_s_ jacket clutched so fondly to her chest.

Ranma's brows furrowed into a hardened v as he winced at the thought, "Dammit," he muttered as he walked to the cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal, "At this rate…"

_I'm going to lose her._

_(...)  
><em>

Her interest fading from the television, she got up and brushed away the hair that was in her eyes, for a moment she stood silently listening to Ranma move around in the kitchen. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she decided to go for a walk – to clear her mind, and possibly pick up some sort of breakfast from a vendor along the way. Heaven knows how much she likes sweets, but…had toned down drastically since Ranma came along and called her such crude names.

She missed the sweet sugar donuts Kasumi prepared at breakfast, the preserved jams jammed inside. Yet, she restrained herself and ate the fish and rice instead. Since then, Kasumi had not make the dish seeing it being untouched by Akane, whom she knew it was her favorite dish. So, as she slipped on her shoe and checked her change pocket, Akane called out, "I'm going out Ranma! I'll be back later!"

Without waiting for a response, she opened the door and left the compounds of the house. Ranma stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway as he saw the door swing shut and then the retreating sounds of her footsteps on the pavement followed by silence. He let out a little groan as he went back inside and prepared instant ramen for his breakfast.

Out in the streets, Akane smiled at children and waved friendly hellos. Their bright and sunny faces just made her smile even more. Despite her attire, a few boys stopped and asked for her number, which she ever so politely declined and lied about having no phone. Then, her stride stopped as she stopped at the familiar vendor she used to frequent and a smile lit up her face as the proprietor recognized her, "Ah! Akane-san! Haven't seen you in a while! The regular, I assume?"

Giving her best smile she said to the old man, "Yes Mr. Po! Thank-you so much!"

His old hands pulled out a soft dough, with red filling spilling out from the sides, "Since you are my favorite customer, this one is free," he said with his toothy grin. Akane's face lit up as she took it from him, "Ahh! Thanks so much!" He gave a small nod and watched with a smile as she walked away eating his dish.

"_She grew up so beautiful, it's so sad that I hardly see her anymore, she looks so much like her mother_," he thought to himself before being interrupted by another customer.

As she bit into the donut, her mouth exploded with flavor as she gushed in the deliciousness that ensued from her taste buds, tears of happiness started to form in the edges of her eyes as she thought, "_So good!_" Frankly, it has been almost a year since she actually had one of those, her stomach lit up with joy as she finished off the donut and licked the remains off her fingers.

Patting her tummy she let out a happy, "Yum!"

The people walking beside her let out a smile as she was so happy doing whatever she was. Such a cute girl with such a smile, who would not return such a simple gesture? Her heart warmed as she continued her walk around town, it was much different from the night scene. The familiar stores she knew were open, bustling business men who worked on Saturdays scurried past and other students, much like her, were just taking in the pleasure of shopping.

Looking into a store window, she saw the beautifully arranged display and then something in her mind told her to look up. So, she did. She felt herself tense up as the person behind the window returned a smile, it was Hiro. He waved to her, indicating to come in. For a moment, she hesitated by shook her head, "_What the hell is wrong with me? He's just a friend! Come on Akane!_" She returned a smile as she entered the store.

A little bell above the door rang as the door opened, Hiro greeted her, "Why, hello there Akane, nice seeing you again, after last night I was sure I wouldn't meet you again," a twinkle in his eye gleamed, "But I'm not against this what-so-ever." A small smile appeared on her face as she replied, "I thought the same, but it is nice to see a familiar face again."

She had managed to inch her way towards the counter where he had leaned over to talk to her, "What brings you out in the day?"

"Nothing in particular," Akane replied, "Just seeing some sights, is all."

"All alone, again?"

"Uhrm," she thought about her response, "Yeah, I guess."

He smiled at her, "Why?"

She shrugged as she her mind raced back to Ranma, and how he would tell her that what she was doing was stupid and a waste of time, or better yet: how he would not dare be seen in public with her doing something like that.

"Like I said last night, something different," she shrugged.

His eyes stared into hers, she fidgeted for a moment feeling uncomfortable but soon got over it as she eased into his gaze, "You didn't tell me you worked here?"

He let out a small laugh, "It never came up in conversation," he waved his arm across the counter, "Actually, my folks own this shop. I just help out on the weekends." As he finished his statement, a girl's voice carried from the back, "Brother! Quit flirting with the customers and get the inventory done!"

A tall girl emerged from behind the opened door, her hair bounced with the curls with each step. Hiro let out a sigh and a half smile as he waved his hand over, "Akane, this is my sister Nagato Aoi." The girl he indicated to glared at her brother for a moment then casted her gaze over to Akane, a smile appeared as she began to spill out the words, "Ohh! She's so pretty, brother!"

Akane blushed as she uttered a thank-you, which was ignored as Aoi eyed her up-and-down, "So beautiful! Akane-san you really are one gorgeous lady!" She gleamed up at Akane. Taken back by her statement Akane stared at her in surprise, "Oh, no no," she waved her hands in front of her, "I'm just a plain jane."

"Pft," Aoi scoffed as she folded her arms in front of her, "Suuure, if plain jane looked like you I'd hate to see the beaut."

Hiro laughed as he tried to usher his sister back to the back room, "Go on Aoi, I'll help in just a moment, let me say good-bye."

She turned her head over her shoulder to call out, "Why say good-bye, when it's hello? Akane-san! Date my brother!"

Akane giggled as Hiro shut the door quite hard and stuttered, "Ahem," he coughed into his hand, "Sorry about that, my sister can be…_overwhelming_ at times. She has this fantasy," he waved his arms out in front of him, "That I'd marry a princess one day or something."

At that, Akane could not help but smile. Everything that was happening to her at this point just seemed just that – a fairy tale, some sort of fantasy, since she met Hiro. Hell, it closely resembled the English word _Hero_. A smile made her way to her face, "It's cute," she let out a little giggle, "When I was a kid I dreamt of being the best martial artist…not as girly, but it's a dream."

Hiro seemed to sympathize with the girl as he leaned over the counter once more, "You know, you still can be."

Looking up, she stared into his eyes and let out a genuine smile, true happiness swam through her veins at that moment when he encouraged her. More so, she saw more hope than ever in the person in front of her. "Y-you think so?" she managed to whisper. He stood up and winked as he went towards the door, "I honestly believe it so," he opened the door to an Aoi pressing an ear at the door to listen in, "I'll see you around, Akane-san."

With a nod, she turned and left the store. Her heart felt so free, so light, more so in years. Not noticing that she had begun to put a little skip in her walk, she decided it was time to head home.

_(...)_

Ranma stared at the clock, it had been four hours since Akane left the house. Nabiki had returned two hours ago, she had hurriedly went to her room without so much as a hello. He did not question it, no doubt whatever it was, it was some sort black mail or something. The ticking of the clock started to annoy him, even over the light banter that went with the show he was watching. He had absent-mindedly started to drum his fingers on his knees as he listened to the ticking of the clock and the dialog exerted from the television simultaneously.

Just then the door opened and a familiar voice rang out, "I'm home!"

Ranma got to his feet, stupidly he did not know what he was going to do or say when he reached the door.

_Maybe I should just grab her by the shoulders and kiss her. Pft, what am I thinking?_

He stopped when he got there, she had just finished taking off her shoes when he noticed something about her. She seemed happy – contented. She lifted her head up and gave a small smile as her eyes closed shut, "Hmm, hello Ranma."

A barrier of saliva built up in his throat, causing him to croak a little when he started to say something, but nothing came out. She stared at him funny for a moment, but then she just let out a sigh, "Uhm, I'm going up to my room now, okay?" following up with a nod, she left Ranma at the front of the house as her footsteps clambered up the staircase and a light thud signifying a closed door caused Ranma to react.

He groaned as he put his hand to his forehead, "_God, what is with her! Why does she have so much control over me? Dammit!_"

_It's because you love her so much, and you're willing to let her take over. Stupid._

Another groan escaped his lips as he turned around and walked upstairs, he was determined to set something straight. What that something was, he did not know. All he knew was he could not take this nice Akane thing she had worked up. It kept tearing him apart.

Why does he have to feel this way?

Does she feel the same?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well, here it is! Chapter 3! More filler chapter action actually, real action starts in the next one really. I'm just laying out the preface of the coming dialog between Ranma and Akane. Hrmmm! With my editor, it said this was 8 pages long (roughly 3,600+ words). Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Confrontation of the Words

**Disclaimer:** Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 4: Confrontation of the Words

If it was not the sheer idea of coming up to her room to question her, the mere action of doing so made the reality more-so bitter. Ranma bit his lower lip, questions running through his mind – wondering, just what exactly should he do? Should he apologize? Yell? Question her?

Feeling annoyed, he used both hands to clutch at his head to try to stifle all his racing thoughts as he finally settled on one: he would try to apologize first.

Raising his hand to the door, he gave a soft knock, "Akane?"

"Come in," was her reply, which came in a gentle whisper that made Ranma nervous as he turned the doorknob. Sitting in her chair, slouched over with a pencil in her hand, sat Akane. Not bothering to turn around, she asked, "What is it, Ranma?"

The fact that she knew it was him without even acknowledging his presence made him squirm, "Uh," he started to say as he watched her form, her shoulders dropped in a steady rhythm with her breathing, "I-I want to—"

It was then Akane had sat up and turned to look at the boy, her gaze seemed empty as she watched him stumble over his words, "Ranma, it's okay," she interrupted him as she stood up and walked towards him, distancing a bit away, "If this is about yesterday, it's okay –" she looked down at her feet, "I've already forgiven you, so just go, okay?"

_Forgiven me already? How can she say something like that when I haven't forgiven myself yet! Damn her! Damn her to hell!_

"A-Akane!" he practically yelped, but caught himself with a cough as he too took to staring at the ground, "I-I…I'm really sorry."

Lifting her head to steady her gaze and lock onto his, she gave a small smile, "I told you, baka, I've already forgiven you," a bit of anger sparked in her voice as she watched him fidget. He gulped, and stared back, their gazes locked for the longest of times until she broke it and started back to her desk. He reached out and grabbed a hold of her shoulder, she stopped and turned her head.

"Akane…" he muttered.

She stared at him, at first with a longing to just be held by him, which then was overwhelmed with sadness as she watched him try to say his words.

"I-I want to make it up to you," he managed.

Slowly, she got out of his grip and faced him, her arms on her hips, her eyes now set with the intensity of passion she was noted for, "I told you it was okay, I just want to be left alone for a while!" Her rise in tone did not go unrecognized to Ranma as he stared at her.

_Why is she so forgiving? Why doesn't she hit me, reassure me that this is all my fault! That...everything is always my fault! _

"I – " he started but quickly picked it up, "Fine!" His tone captured his audacity of ignorance, "If that's the way you want it, I'll leave!" He huffed as he stomped out of her room, slamming the door behind him.

_Well, that went _well_._

Nabiki's head rose when she heard the door slam, her hand was holding a pen that wrote down records of bets she was to claim later on in the day. A smirk came across her face as she turned her attention back to her finances.

Akane let out a groan; she shook her head furiously and tugged at the ends, "STUPID!" She yelled at the closed door before huffily lying down on her bed, screaming into her pillow.

_Idiot, hard-headed idiot! _

Ranma cringed when he heard her yell, he stood in the middle of his room with his arms crossed as he waited for her to run in there and mallet him to the next country, but it never came. His temple throbbed as he tried to make sense of the situation laid out in front of him, but none came from it.

After cooling down, Akane got up from her bed and wiped away her tears that had lingered on her cheeks. She stared out her window for a moment and let out a sigh, as she turned her head her eyes caught sight of Hiro's jacket. Moving over, she grasped it and held it in her hands, looking down at it, she felt _nothing_.

With a sigh, she placed the jacket back on her bed and turned her attention elsewhere. She fixed her shirt and walked out of her room, as she did so she noticed the hole in the wall from yesterday was already patched up, she raised an eyebrow as she did so but shrugged it off. _He probably fixed it while I was out anyways_.

"Akane?"

She turned her head to see Nabiki peaking out of her door, cunningly smiling, Nabiki said, "Let's talk."

For a moment, she hesitated but went in anyways, with the click of the door behind her, Akane took a seat on her elder sister's bed and stared at her. With a flick of her wrist, Nabiki waved a photo in front of her, "You know what this is?"

She stared at her sister, "Looks like a picture, what about it?"

Nabiki flicked her wrist, "More than a picture."

Akane gasped as she reached out to snatch it out her sister's hand but she smartly pulled it away and with a smirk on her face she said, "Even if you get a hold of this one, I still have the negatives."

Her heart squeezed, binding her and her lungs seemed to not want to cooperate as she whispered, "Please, Nabiki – what…what do you want?"

"Me? Nothing," she said tossing the picture at her sister's feet, Akane looked up to stare eye-to-eye with her sister, "…except your happiness, little sister."

She stared at her, her mind filled with questions, "W-What do you mean?"

Nabiki crossed her legs and leaned forward and with a matter-of-fact tone she said, "I saw you last night, with that _man_ there, and you seemed so happy. My question for you, little sister," her face got serious, "Were you truly happy?"

Akane thought back on last night, how she felt so relax and comfortable, able to just reel in life without any worry, and how easily she had forgotten Ranma. Her heart dropped, it ached and a headache made its way back to her temples as she groaned, "Uhh, I was happy at the time, yeah."

"Because you were with that boy?" Nabiki questioned further.

"…"

"Akane, you have to tell me," she said.

"…"

Silence settled between the two sisters, a tension in the room rising every moment a word went unsaid until Akane spoke, "It felt like happiness…"

"Hmm?" Nabiki retaliated, "Do explain?"

Nervously, Akane broke her pride and ego and let it all rush out as tears spilled from her eyes, "Okay, I _did _feel happy Nabiki! I felt like I actually mattered, that…that some_one_ was there to listen to me, not judge me, or even get interrupted for that matter! It was just me! Or rather…that I wasn't an object…I-I know I sound selfish," her words choked her as she let them out, "B-But I felt like..like…"

"A person?" Nabiki finished for her.

Akane looked up, "Since Kuno decided that stupid proclamation over who could date me, how couldn't I? When father set up the engagement…it killed me. But," she silently started to whisper, knowing all too well that their sisterly bond insisted that Nabiki already knew, "…I thought maybe…Ranma could have changed that."

Staring hard at her sister, her brows furrowed, she understood where she came from. When she was about to say something, Akane had turned her head away and in a low voice said, "Ranma's never asked me on a date."

As long as she knew of Ranma and Akane's relationship, this should have not been such a shocker. Sure they have! But…Ranma never asked her? Not…once?

"What? You're kidding me!" Nabiki exclaimed as she put her hands up in surprise, "You're telling me, he hasn't asked you once?"

She shook her head, "No."

She wrinkled her brow, this was not any good. Taking a good look at her sister, she noted that she seemed devastated in this state.

"It's not all his fault," Akane muttered as she wiped a tear away, "I never asked him either."

"You're the girl in the relationship, you shouldn't have to!" Nabiki practically yelled.

"WHAT RELATIONSHIP?" Akane exclaimed, getting up and tears starting up again, "THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP!"

Nabiki got up, startled, but did something completely out of character that both shocked herself and Akane, she had put her arms around her little sister and hugged her, comforting her. Through the tears, Akane recalled Kasumi being the one to do this, and seeing her sister do this, made her cry even more as she hugged back and sobbed into her sister's embrace, "There is **no** relationship…" she sobbed through her tears.

Patting her little sister's back, she felt her heart drop seeing someone so close to her just fall apart in front of her. "Nabiki…" she muttered as she sobbed, "Do you think daddy will let me out of this…i-if I asked?" For a moment, nothing was said as Nabiki looked down at her sister and softly said, "I-I'm sure, Akane. We only want your happiness."

Pulling away from her embrace, Akane gave a half smile and her voice, though strained, "Daddy's going to be upset, but he doesn't care as long as someone inherits the dojo – right?" Nabiki stared as she finished, "Would you like to take Ranma as your fiancee? This time," she put her hands on her lap as she stared at her sister, "For real?"

Astonished and dumbstruck, the logic that Akane held was true. Their father did not care who Ranma's fiancee was, as long as it was one of them. Kasumi could not do it, for the mere fact that she was like a mother-figure to Ranma anyways. And the way Akane had said, _this time_, made it even more inevitably true – this was not some silly dispute they were having…this was all real.

"As a favor for you little sister," Nabiki sighed, "I could."

(…)

Three days and two nights have passed since the announcement at the dinner table. The shocked faces and disheartened voices long gone now that Nabiki and Ranma were the ones engaged, thus freeing Akane from any ties with him.

Albeit, her eyes told another story than the one she told.

"_Daddy?" Akane asked, turning her head towards her father seated at the other end. He slowly gazed up, his chopsticks still in his hand as he answered with a smile, "What is it baby-girl?"Taking a deep breath, Akane mustered up all she had as she meekly proclaimed, "I want my engagement to Ranma…ended." Before anyone could have their input, "I've talked with Nabiki, she'll …she'll be Ranma's fiancee from now on…o-okay?"_

_Determined brown eyes stared hard into her father's gaze as they stared at each other. The table was quiet as Soun replied, "As long as it makes you happy, baby-girl."_

_A smile made its way across Akane's face, the one that made Ranma's heart beat a little faster each time it made its appearance, as Akane stood up and kissed her father on the cheek, "Thank-you."_

_Sounding like a grunt, Akane took that as a welcome and took her leave, "Thank you for dinner…I still have homework unfinished."_

(…)

The sound of her pencil scratching the paper was increasingly annoying Akane as she worked the hard math problem at her desk. The ticking of the clock behind her did not help in the least. Everything at dinner went better than expected, Ranma did not even speak up to stop her. "_Figures, he doesn't care who he's engaged to anyways, he can have his pick of any of the girls in the end anyways, feh,_" Akane thought as she pushed the paper away and let out an aggravated sigh.

A soft knock soon made its debut, "Akane-chan? Phone's for you, someone named Hiro?"

Kasumi's voice is always a relief to hear, Akane sighed as she got up to go to the phone downstairs, "Ah, thank you." With sad eyes, Kasumi watched her sister walk pass her, she slowly whispered, "Oh my."

"This is Akane." Akane said as she picked up the receiver.

"Ah! Akane-chan!" Hiro said in an excited tone, "I'm sorry for calling late."

"It's fine…how did you get my number?"

"Oh, uhrm, I looked you up in the directory! Haha! I sound like a creeper!"

"No, no it's fine," she mustered a small smile.

"Anyways, I was wondering – after school tomorrow would you like to go on a – I don't know…date with me?" he asked, with a tone of anticipation in his voice.

"That sounds fun, Hiro." Akane replied.

"Great! I'll pick you up at four, is that alright?" he excitedly asked.

"That's fine, see you then," Akane giggled as she hung up.

With a sigh, she slumped her back against the wall and slid down to rest on the floor. She put her hands up to her face and just sat there in silence. Since the day she renounced her engagement to Ranma, the hentai horde came back – proclaiming now that she was a free woman it was all fair game.

Fair game? Is that all she is to boys? A game? She hated the whole idea of it all, the tears starting to make a debut again, but she stopped herself as she shook her head, thinking that they were not worth her tears. This is not something to cry about – she will face the challenge, no matter how hard. She is a martial artist too!

Too bad she has already lost the game of love.

(…)

_What the hell was she thinking breaking the engagement like that and passing me on like I'm some sort of toy? She hadn't even asked me about my feelings about this whole ordeal! Now I'm stuck with Nabiki as a fiancee? I ain't ever thought of her that way…I-I always thought she'd end up my sister…_

_Dammit. _

_She can't be my sister if Akane and I aren't together. I should have said something ta her, I should have told her when she announced that stupid announcement. I should have done something other than just ogle at her while she said that! Damn it all to hell!_

_She hasn't even talked to me! Not a single word! Since then I haven't seen her in the orning', I hear her get up for her jog but by the time I'm up – it seems ta me that she's already out the door and headed straight to school!_

_By herself!_

_And all hell breaks loose once those _perverts_ at school found out about our engagement. Taking on Akane every morning with that _hunger_ in their eyes. What the hell was she thinking?_

Ranma let out a low groan as he turned over on his futon. Since he was "engaged" to Nabiki, nothing really changed. Hell, Nabiki did not even do much to change – it seemed that their relationship stayed static. Not that he did not mind, but it sure as hell bothered him.

Opening his eyes, he caught the sight of his wallet, reaching out in front of him, he grasped it and opened it. The leather was old, time being the enemy and winning. At soon as it was opened, a smiling face greeted him. Running his hand across the picture, his heart started to throb as he muttered, "Stupid tomboy…why'd ya go and do this?"

With a brisk movement, he snapped the wallet closed as put it back on the table. "I-I have to talk to her…I don't care if she won't listen to me. I need ta say something." And with that, he fell asleep.

(…)

Sleepily, Akane dragged herself to school. Since she started to leave earlier than what she is used to, her mornings were something she dreaded. Straight after her run, she would head to school with her uniform packed neatly inside. Helping herself to the gym's showers, she readied herself before the school began.

It helped that she managed to finish getting ready before the hentai horde arrived every morning, they seemed to converge at the entrance by the gym as they waited for her. Each day was a painful reminder of how much she just hates _boys_.

Heaving a heavy sigh, panting and out of breath, Akane wiped her brow and headed into school – she must not think that way, she had a date tonight. With a _man_.

(…)

4:00 PM | Tendo Residence

A honking sound echoed in the walls of the house, looking up from the television, Akane watched her sister go to the door and come back with a confused look on her face, "Oh, uhm, Akane, you have a guest?"

Standing up and dusting the imaginary dust off her skirt, Akane calmly replied with a smile on her face, "Ah, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I have a date tonight."

Kasumi smiled at her sister with forlorn, as thoughts of: "_It's really over now, isn't it? She's moved on…_" "That's fine, have fun on your date," she said as Akane brushed past her to put on her shoes, "I'll be home before curfew!" she called out.

With a nod, Kasumi turned her head back to the living room to turn off the neglected television set, but froze as she saw Ranma sitting there in a state of shock. He seemed to be made of rock, his gaze blankly staring at the spot Akane was mere moments ago.

_Oh my, I did not even realize he was in the room! I wonder how the poor dear is handling this…_

"Oh, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi whispered in a soft motherly tone, "Are you alright?"

_**ALRIGHT?**__How can I be alright? I-I just let her go! She has a date…a date. She's…she's serious about this. After all we've been through, she's…she's leaving me for someone new?_

_No way in hell! _

Abruptly standing up and not listening to any more of Kasumi's talk, he ran out the door. His heartbeat reverberated in his ears as the wind swooshed through them, his thoughts unclear as he tried all he could to find her ki to track her down.

It was not ever hard to find her, he knew that.

So it was not any surprise that he stopped at a restaurant to find her sitting with a man that looked than a year her elder, pulling out her chair to let her sit down. The surprise was, the smile she gave him – the one he never gets to see, the one he pines for.

He felt the tears rush up to his eyes as he watched her beautiful face form that forbidden smile, the one he secretly thought she saved for him in those few moments of intimacy they shared. But the realization was: it was not for him.

It was for that other guy, smiling smugly at_ his_ Akane. The tears long forgotten were now being replaced with feelings of anger and jealousy as the couple seemed to radiate a happy glow around them. People beside them seemed envious at the happy pair, a pang of sorrow bit at his heart.

Perhaps, Ranma should learn how to control his anger a bit more or, choose his words more carefully before uttering a single sentence. Sure, life on the road could kill those manners, but… what exactly was he thinking when he finally listened to his heart, all pride and honor aside as he barged in and took Akane out of there.

(…)

Beating her hands against her _ex_-fiancee's chest, she furiously yelled, "Idiot! What are you doing?" Mixed with emotions strange to her, Akane did what she did best in a situation like this, get angry. But the stern look in Ranma's face quickly hushed her when he glanced down at the girl in his arms with a school, "I'll explain in a moment."

After what seemed like painstakingly long hours, Ranma stopped his roof-hopping and set her down. Out of breath, and quite irked at the situation at hand, Akane berated him, "What the hell where you doing, taking me like that – I was on a date Ranma!" She glared at him, "Well?"

He did not say anything for a second, but then he turned his attention to her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pressing his lips against hers. An immense passion ensued between the two teens as years of repressing their emotions followed through in that one kiss. Breaking apart, panting for breath as he stared at the girl he loves so much, "I can't lose you again…please," his eyes started to fill with tears as Akane just gaped at him and tried to push him away, but she could not.

"R-Ranma," she whispered, her breath just passing by his neck as he leaned closer as he stared harder.

He closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead to hers, "You know I'm not good with words."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Let them talk about it! :) It is not the last you saw of Hiro! But, what will happen in the next chapter? Because, Akane hasn't answered Ranma yet.


	5. Chapter 5: Listen to Me

**Disclaimer: **Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 5: Listen to Me

Tapping the end of her pen on the clipboard, Nabiki looked over her figures. She looked over to see Kasumi cleaning the table and said, "It's about _now_ that they should be making up." Without stopping her duties, Kasumi smiled a sweet smile and replied, "Nabiki, you have such a weird sense with these type of things."

She gave a one shoulder shrug as she put the clipboard down, "What can you say? I call 'em as I see 'em."

(…)

"_Really?" Akane exclaimed with a giggle as Hiro chatted on in the seat beside her. He just finished telling her the story about how his girlfriend had bought a bag of chips from a store, there was fried chicken in the sealed bag. (_**A/N: **This actually happened to a friend of mine, so it's believable!)

"_What happened then?" she asked as she regained composure. _

"_She called the company, it was great," he said as he wiped away his tears from laughter. The taxi driver also gave out a little chuckle. Akane smiled at her friend, he smiled back, "You know, you really are cute," he said._

"_Thanks Hiro," Akane said as she leaned her head back, "Thanks again for this, I've got to thank Mio for introducing us."_

_A slight giggle left Hiro's mouth, "That cousin of yours, he sure as hell knew what he was doing when he told me to go look for you."_

"_Haha, yeah. I guess I just needed a friend."_

"_Or as Mio said, someone who didn't have any bias with you. You seem like a very interesting person, Akane." He said as he scratched his nose, "Arielle would like to meet you, by the way," he turned his head to her, "She really wants to meet the girl Aoi keeps calling beautiful. I think she's jealous – it's cute."_

_Letting out a laugh, Akane smiled, "It is, I'd like to meet her too!"_

_A warm smile was exchanged between the two friends, and then Hiro said, "Mio told me about you and Ranma's engagement…"_

"_Oh," Akane said looking down, "Eh, it's nothing. He's engaged to my elder sister, Nabiki. In the end, anyways I'm sure he'll pick the one he really loves – " with a serious face she patted her fist into her palm, "I'm pretty sure it'll be Ukyo though."_

_Hiro raised an eyebrow at his new friend and laughed, "It's cute, you are so jealous."_

_Akane blushed, "Shut up Hiro."_

_Waving a hand in the air coolly he said, "I'm the impartial party here, no need for blame or the shutting ups." A laugh was shared by the two new friends as Akane smiled, "Thanks for being a good friend."_

_He winked, "Anything for a friend of my friend."_

(…)

Kasumi smiled up at her sister, "But…are you sure it isn't too late?"

Nabiki grinned at her sister with a cunning look in her eye, "For their love? Nah."

(…)

Akane resisted for a moment, taking in the moment as she then felt a gush of relief flow through her, but anger at the same time. Ranma's embrace felt like he would never let go, so she muttered, "What _were_ you thinking?"

He let go of her for a moment, but maintained his grip on her shoulders, afraid she might try to leave as he stared into her eyes, "What were you?"

Holding back her anger, she said through gritted teeth, "_I _was on a date – " she started, but Ranma's grip increased, she winced but went through, "_—_with a _friend_, nothing more." At the word friend, Ranma seemed to relax a bit, but didn't restrain himself, "Sure as hell didn't look like that ta me." He said in his arrogant tone.

With a sigh, Akane looked down, "Ranma, listen to me," she said as she reached up and grabbed his face, "Even if I wanted to…even if I _did_ like Hiro, I-I couldn't do that to you. What do you think I am? Some sort of conceited bitch taking a liking to the first boy to show me kindness?"

Ranma felt himself pull back at that comment, he opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced when Akane continued, "_Listen_," she hissed, "Hiro's my friend, he's actually a friend of my cousin, Mio. H-He was sorta someone I could talk to…just for a bit; to break away from this havoc of a life."

Listening to her words, he blinked as she continued, "It's weird, talking to you this, y'know? But, I'm sure my sister wouldn't like her fiancee all over her younger sister."

With that last remark, Ranma gave a sharp look at her and replied with a tort, "Like hell I care what she thinks, fiancee or not – it's y—" Akane put her hand over his mouth and shook her head, "No, let's not finish that sentence just yet Ranma."

She managed to pull herself away, her hands on her hips, "I've known you for such a long time Ranma, and… honestly," she turned her head one direction then came back, "I want to believe everything that happened to us, happened to us for a _reason_."

A silence settled between the two, but was broken when she spoke, "But, I'm not your fiancee anymore, okay?"

The tension between the two grew as Ranma was mixed with anger and despair as he retaliated, "Then go out with me!"

_Go out with him?_

Akane looked at him, glaring a bit as she smirked, "I'm sure my sister wouldn't want her fiancee getting a girlfriend, Ranma. Geez, have you no honor?"

Attacking his honor like that should have hurt him, made him angry and yell at her – just exactly what she was doing? She was the one provoking him, making this more than it should be!

"No!" he angrily yelled as he grabbed her shoulder again, forcing her to stare into his eyes, "I ain't got none anymore – I'm pushing that aside now, I don't give a shit about it right now, if it means I can get you back, then hell no –" he leaned closer, "I don't have a single ounce of honor in me."

Shocked from his words, she stared at her companion, his gaze hardening as he stared at her, when she gave it one last shot, "Then what's keeping you from taking me here and now?"

It seemed like a whole solar system crashed as the scene behind them faded into black as he hissed, "Your honor."

She smiled up at him, pulling a hand up to his face and sweetly smiled, "Good, now get your hands off me, **pervert**!" Her gentle hand turned into a fist, taking him by surprise as she malleted him into orbit. She stood there, sighing, dusting her hands off as she watched him disappear, tears in her eyes as she muttered, "Just trust me on this, Ranma…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Confused? Good, keep reading. If you haven't realized it yet, _italics_ both mean flashbacks (usually they are in paragraph mode...) or thoughts. **Bolded** words are used to emphasis, where CAPITAL letters mean yelling. Update soon. :) A few more chapters, and this will be done! :D Do you trust Akane? :) I do!


	6. Chapter 6: Trust Me, Ranma!

**Disclaimer:** Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 6: Trust Me, Ranma!

Ranma picked himself up from the ground as he landed, he groaned as the impact left a small bruise on his side, but he ignored it as he tried to run back to where Akane was. His mind was racing as her last words dawned on him, "_Trust her? Trust her to do __**what**__?_"

His footsteps were light as he ran along the roofs, searching for any sign of his short blue-haired friend, all the while his thoughts racing as his mind played the past few days events and his anger towards it.

_Oooh, if I could _hate_ you Akane, right now is the best for me to start doing so! What tha' hell do you mean, 'trust me on this'? I hate the way you make me feel like this! Tell me what you're up to, tomboy!_

(…)

Akane sighed as she went back home, she decided she would call Hiro tomorrow and apologize about leaving like that. Looking up at the sky, she let out a sigh and muttered, "I hope I know what I'm doing…"

Her footsteps sounded hallow as she arrived, the hour for dinner had passed and silence was the norm. "I'm home!" she called out as she took off her shoes. Raising her head, she heard no response, not even a sound to signify a presence. She raised her eyebrows, "_Hrm, there's no way I'm home alone? Everyone was here not that long ago before I left…_"

Shrugging it off, with the idea that everyone must be already asleep, Akane headed up to her room where she shrugged off her clothes and into her pajamas. Laying her head down on her pillow, her eyes were drawn to her window, she let out a small sigh and turned around and faced the wall. With that, she fell asleep.

(…)

Ranma groaned as he came back to the Tendo compound, it was well past any hustle and bustle for a normal person, but then again, this _was_ Nerima. Yet, tonight seemed to prove Ranma wrong as he entered through the door without anybody yelling at him or any of the sort. He raised his eyebrow as he tried to reason it out, but to no avail decided to head to his room and try to sleep it off.

The possibility of this being a dream could still be evident, at least, forty-five percent.

After the incident, the morning that followed seemed hollow as Ranma got up. He glanced quickly at the flashing digital clock that sat on the shelf across the room, it was around the time Akane usually got up and did her morning jog. His ears perked up to listen to her soft footsteps descend down the stairs and then vanish. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he gathered his things together to get ready – no point in going back to sleep anyways.

Unfortunately, what Ranma thought was wrong as Akane clattered around the kitchen silently. Her bangs fell over her eyes as they scanned a book that sat open on the counter as she murmured the instructions to herself. Akane had already dressed for the day, clad in her school uniform and hair brushed nicely. Her eyes glistened as she put the finishing touches on her bento and closed the lid shut. Letting out a long sigh, she stashed it away in her bag and went to finish her routine.

Her plan started today, and she was decided that if she could not do this – she had no right to continue on doing what she was doing. After all, if this madness does not stop _now_ when would it?

An exasperated sigh left her lips as she closed her bag and the sun had began to rise. Kasumi, who was visiting for today since she was going to go and leave with Tofu for two weeks for a trip to France, was even starting down the stairs and stopped as she saw her sister in the kitchen, "Ah, Akane-chan, what are you doing in the kitchen so early? Shouldn't you be out on your morning jog?"

A sweet smile appeared across Akane's face as she sweetly replied, "Ah, I'm just preparing_ my_ bento, so you don't have to trouble with mine, I – uh , I have to get to school early today."

Kasumi stared at her sister with an interrogating stare, as she knew that her sister was not telling her the whole truth, but decided against it as she replied, "Oh, okay. Be careful," she smiled, "Will you be leaving with Ranma?"

Akane cringed a bit when her sister suggested that, but she told her, "No, no…he doesn't have to go in early today – I, uhm… promised the homeroom teacher I would gather the notebooks for her and sort them alphabetically to be distributed."

Knowing her sister would probably dodge any more of her inquires, she gave a half-smile and told her to be careful regardless and have a good day at school. Akane felt a flush of relief flood her body as she left the kitchen, grabbing an apple to eat on the way.

She knew that leaving this early would avoid Shampoo on her trek to school, also hindering any conflict that might arise when Ranma would not do anything about it, but it also gave her time to think. Her mind clouded with thoughts that made utter sense, and at times – none at all. If she wanted her plan to work, she had to do what she had to do. And with that thought in mind, she made it through the gates of the high school with thirty minutes to spare before class started.

The students who were already there stared in awe as Akane came in and sat down at her desk, she flashed them a quick smile before taking out her books. She recalled only a few times, _before _Ranma came around, that she had actually came to school on time – but those were crushed then when the whole male population made a game to have her hand at a date.

Just thinking of the incident made Akane cringe as she continued on with her day-to-day activities, but that one illicit incident came coming back, no matter how hard she suppressed it. She shuddered at her desk as the haunting nightmare came back into play in her mind, and crushed her eyelids closed, muttering that it would never happen again.

Her few classmates stared at the situation at hand, but did not bother to ask if anything was wrong. They returned back to their study session and chattered aimlessly amongst each other.

Akane pulled herself out of the rut, chastising herself for even remembering that and quickly set forth with what she had planned to do. Soon, the schoolyard filled with the usual bustle of students, and the loud Kuno being yelled at by his homeroom teacher from the second floor to get to class, as he was ten minutes late.

He was apparently still waiting for Akane to burst through the gate, but the oaf did not realize she was already inside. Akane chuckled to herself as she saw the chatter with him and his teacher, and was quite surprised that Ranma came not long after. He had ran as quickly as he could through the gate, he seemed like he was muttering to himself as he did so and when he came in the classroom, shot a glare over at Akane.

The kind of 'why-didn't-you-wake-me-up' kind of glare as he plopped down in his desk before the homeroom teacher made it into class was exchanged with his _ex_-fiancee. Akane just rolled her eyes as she rested her head in the palm of her hand and thought to herself, "_And it begins…_"

Throughout the day, Ranma noticed that Akane took deliberate measures to avoid him – when he managed to catch even just a glimpse of her, she had took off in the other direction. This angered Ranma even more than usual, as a throb in his temple indicated a headache was forming, "_What tha' hell…she's doin' this on purpose._"

And he was right, partially.

Ukyo had wondered over to Ranma's side during lunch, "Let's eat lunch together, Ranma-honey!" Ranma turned to look at his childhood friend, he looked at her face and discerned a feeling of 'don't-talk-to-me-right-now' in his tone as he said, "No thanks."

A bit shocked, but not entirely fooled, Ukyo gave a false smile, "Oh, okay then…I'll – uh just see you later, then?"

The news that Akane had really cancelled the engagement with Ranma had rushed to Ukyo's side as soon as it could, and much like the other girls who sought after Ranma, thought this was the most perfect time to _snag_ Ranma. They went full force when they found out that Nabiki was the fiancée, and knew they had just as much chance as anybody.

Even though Ukyo _loved_ Ranma, she liked Akane, and knew that this whole situation was blown out of hand. The last time Nabiki ended up as Ranma's fiancée, it ended up as a huge fiasco disaster. Ukyo shuddered as she thought of that, and the hurtful words that Ranma and Akane had exchanged then. Why was it different this time?

She was not going to press her luck.

(…)

Ranma was fed up by the end of the day, he had not gotten a word in edge-wise with Akane, nor even exchanged a hello. As soon as school was over, he tried to find her, but she escaped his line of sight. He cursed under his breath as he scanned the tops of students heads looking for her.

"You looking for your girlfriend?" Nabiki asked, surprising him.

"She ain't my girlfriend!" Ranma quickly denied, but added, "Do you know where she is?"

Nabiki's lips curled into a smile that made Ranma shudder. "Isn't that a bit dishonorable, going about chasing other girls while your fiancée is standing right here?'

Ranma could feel his eye twitch, he knew Nabiki was doing this in spite of him, and he spat out, "I never agreed to be your fiancée."

She gave a half-shrug as she turned around and waved her hand nonchalantly in the air, "Neither did you, when you were with Akane."

Ranma was just about to charge at her, basically pummeling her with a fist but stopped when Nabiki turned her head to stare at him and said, "She's at the doc's." and continued on.

(…)

On the way there, Ranma kept repeating Akane's words in his mind, he was mixed with emotions he knew he hated, but they pressed on. Especially when his mind kept exerting: "_She's just not in love with you anymore, __**you**__ pushed her away._"

He could feel the tears building up, but he stopped them before they made their debut. He had to talk to Akane, _now_. Whether or not she will listen to him…will be a risk he is willing to take.

Reaching the clinic, he got the sudden distinction of feeling rejected. His mind play back when he had first met Akane, how obvious it was of her crush on the doctor and how much this caused Ranma's dismay at never having a chance to win her over. His jealously back then seemed fickle, but it made sense.

He was in love with her, even then.

Ranma's heart clenched a bit as he played the scenario of Dr. Tofu actually returning those feelings, and how happy they could be. He pushed that out of his mind immediately, and suddenly he felt like he needed to strangle the doctor. That thought quickly exited his mind as he remembered just how much in love he was in with Kasumi, and that made a small smile appear on his lips.

_Dammit, if it weren't for my pride, I'd probably act like Dr. Tofu around Akane…but from my vantage point – I'd rather be that. At least I didn't hurt the one I love._

The door in front of him swung open, and there, still in her school uniform and a bag draped over her shoulder is the object of his affection, beaming her beautiful smile and eliciting a soft laugh. As she turned her head to go on, her eyes caught a hold of Ranma's, and for a moment, the intensity of their gazes could have shattered thousands of mirrors.

"Thank you for your time, sensei," Akane finally managed to say with a quick glance back at the doctor and an affirmative nod from him allowed her to go, "I'll see you around!"

He smiled broadly at his young patient, "Good-bye, Akane."

Akane had tried to briskly walk past Ranma, but that failed on every account. He had grabbed ahold of her wrist, but he was dragged along with her as she continued to walk; his grip was not that firm, but he held on.

"Akane." He said.

No response came from his companion, he narrowed his eyes, "Akane!" he tried again, and once more she ignored him. "Tendo, Akane!" he almost bellowed into her ears, this earned him a sharp stop and a glare.

Her voice wrung out in a cold tone, "What?"

His brows furrowed as he let go of her wrist and turned his full attention to her, standing in front of her. He placed his hands on her small shoulders and lowered his head so he could see her eyes. "What do ya think you're doin'?" was all he managed to say.

Blinking, she gave a half-smirk and raised her hand to his cheek, he flushed at this notion. She leaned in more and her forehead rested against his chin and she whispered, "Don't you trust me, Ranma?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN****:** Sorry for the very late update...but school is priority you know! :D (And I had a writer's block...) So, here you go! The next chapter in this installation! ...from the looks of it, I think this will be more than 10 chapters (my outline is in my digital logic book... and I'm currently in the library so...I don't have access to what I wrote!)

Ahh, do you consider that a cliff-hanger? I mean...I absolutely hate it when other author's do that, and then **never** update, but - I won't be like that! (hopefully!) and I will update, so that way you know what happens! :) teehee! 3


	7. Chapter 7: Friends

**Disclaimer:** Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days  
>by pahlee<p>

Chapter 7: Friends

It has been three days since the family waved good-bye to the married couple for their trip to France, and three days since those dreaded words left Akane's lips and onto Ranma's sensitive ears.

"_Don't you trust me, Ranma?" _

He busily glared at the merry girl walking to the kitchen, humming a small tune that echoed in the adjoining rooms. Ranma's ears' twitched and a groan left his lips as he turned his attention away from her. The clatter of the dishes became incoherent as the rushing water from the tap began to wash away the grime.

His mind raced with thoughts he could not control, emotions he attempted to keep from the world – but they were there. They fought amongst each other as he tried to keep them in check as he tried not to think of the girl in the next room.

Nabiki looked up from her paperwork to cast a quick glance at her fiancee, "Don't you have anything better to do than mope around the house all day?" Her eyebrow shot up, "I could loan you out to the community again, they sure paid a l-"

Ranma shot her a hard glare. Nabiki quickly shut her mouth, a thin line appeared on her face as she thought of her rebuttal, letting out a wispy sigh, "Whatever Ranma," she turned her head back to her work, "You know what they say, idle hands and whatnot."

A loud bang emitted from the kitchen, immediately Ranma sprang up and ran towards the kitchen, skidding along the freshly polished floor to see Akane bending over, picking up a dropped pot.

His face flushed a harsh red, shaming his red shirt in comparison as he caught sight of her panties in the position she was in. He bit the tip of his tongue and quickly turned his head the other way, "Ah, Akane – is everything okay?"

From her position, Akane stood straight up cradling a soapy pot in her hands and smiled sweetly at him, "It slipped from my hands – clumsy me, eh Ranma?" She said as she stuck her tongue at him playfully and returned to washing the dishes.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not to stay in the kitchen or do something else. Silently battling with himself, he was caught off guard when Akane talked to him, "Are you doing anything today, Ranma?" He turned his head to her, watching her dry her hands on the end of her apron as she smiled at him. "Uh," he stammered, "N-Nothing."

_Real smooth, Ranma._

"Would you like to come with me and Hiro today? He promised he would introduce me to his girlfriend today," she began as she untied her apron and put it on the hook near the fridge, "Of course, if it's okay with Nabiki."

From the other room, Nabiki shouted, "Take him!"

Ranma was about to retort a statement that he did not need permission to do anything, but quickly shut up. He just stared at the girl in front of him, "Hiro speaks so highly of Arielle, I'm really excited to meet her." Akane continued the conversation, making eye contact now, "So, if you have nothing better to do, would you – "

A crashing sound and the falling wall interrupted her as an overly zealous Amazon bust through, shouting, "SHAMPOO HERE!"

"—like to go?" she sadly finished and let out a soft sigh, turning her head away to break the eye contact, "Never mind," she muttered.

His mind caught up with the actions that just occurred, and an overwhelming hatred bubbled inside him as he glared at Shampoo who stood there promptly standing in such a posture that would make an ordinary guy drool. Fortunately, Ranma is not an ordinary guy.

He started to raise his hands to administer the verbal comeback without any physical actions, but stopped short when he saw a scene unfold like never before. Akane acknowledged Shampoo and even gave a polite bow, "Ah, quite prompt when asked, huh, Shampoo. Next time – could you _use_ the door?"

Shampoo gave a conniving smirk, "Aiya, too much work, easier this way. What Akane want that need Shampoo and Mousse?"

_Mousse?_

Ranma turned his head to the rubble to see a tattered Mouse emerge, "Sh-Shampoo," he moaned as he fell forward and passed out. Shampoo turned her head to him and sighed, "Mouse too too stupid, know not to stand in Shampoo way," and then she turned her attention back to Akane.

Ranma watched the exchange with the two girls, Shampoo's glare giving off a haughty intensity, whereas Akane's stood with pure innocence as she said, "Ahh, if I remember clearly I think I only asked for Mousse."

Shampoo's gaze softened as she watched Akane, "Great Grandmother not want Mousse do stupid things, bring along Shampoo she says."

For a moment there, Akane hesitated but then straightened up and a small smile appeared on her face, "That's fine," she walked over to help Mousse out of the rubble, getting him to his feet and turning back to the gawking Ranma, "You can accompany Ranma for the day, I just needed to talk to Mousse for a bit before I left."

She took Mousse's arm and he followed her behind the corner of the house. Shampoo stood alongside Ranma with a ridiculous look on her face, she turned to look at her airen and noticed his surprised look too. A smile crept on her face, "Let's go on a date, airen!" she screeched as she latched onto his arm. At this point, Ranma began to flail and attempted to get the busty Amazon off his arm.

"Thank you for coming," Akane said as her hands fell to her side. Mousse was a bit disorientated but quickly snapped out of his confusion as he adjusted his glasses on his nose and nodded, "It was no problem Tendo Akane, anything to help!"

Akane gave a small smile to him, "You can call me Akane, Mousse."

For a moment, there was silence as Mousse nodded, "You know, Akane, if we continue this – you might get hurt."

Akane clenched her fists and then released it as she locked gazes with him and gave a firm nod, "I've been thinking of this for a long time, if I can't do it – I might as well," she turned her head away for a brief moment to where Ranma was standing, "Give up."

A soft chuckle escaped Mousse's lips, catching Akane's attention. She stared at him and listened to him as he commented, "You are one stubborn woman."

"I've been told," Akane replied and they shared a laugh.

Mousse offered out his hand, Akane took a firm grip on it and they shook promising on their plan to be carried out, and with that Mousse quickly added, "You must remember, I won't go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Akane replied.

(…)

"You are so adorable!" Arielle shrieked as she pinched Akane's cheeks and giggled softly as she kept administering compliments left and right. Akane laughed as she tried to get away, but Arielle had a strong grip. "You liar, she's _much_ cuter than what you said she was," Arielle said as she finally let go and held onto Hiro's arm and beamed up at him.

Hiro laughed, "I told you she was extraordinarily cute." Mio started to double over laughing as he bit his tongue, "Geez, Akane-chan, you sure are a hit, eh?"

Akane smiled at her cousin as she nodded her head and gave a nonchalant shrug, "It seems so." The whole gang began to laugh as they walked along the streets of Nerima. After a few more stops in stores and a quick bite, they stopped in front of Hiro's store.

"Thank you so much for today," Akane said, "It was really fun!"

Arielle gave a bright smile as she waved her petite hand in the air, "We should hang out once your done with your practices with Mousse, okay Akane-chan!"

"Ah," Akane's face faltered for a moment as she recalled how much practice she was going to do in the next few weeks, "Of course, of course."

Mio stared at his cousin for a moment and his face graved, "I really hope you know what you are doing, from what you tell me…this could either be a big step in the right direction, or the worse – but knowing you," he playfully jabbed his cousin's arm, "You'll get this right."

Akane winked, "Of course, I got the Tendo blood in me."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Okay, this chapter is more of a filler chapter, and some insight on what's going on with Akane. Next chapter will be more filler, plus plot. Sorry – I just wanted to update the story a bit and progress it along a little more. But, the story is soon coming to a close, I think a total of no more than 5 more chapters until this story is wrapped up.!


	8. Chapter 8: Training

**Disclaimer:** Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 8: Training

Two months passed as the days of winter break approached. The so-called normal routine of our heroine became an apparent struggle as each passing day seemed to drone on.

Each day brought along a new scar in remembrance of the days' activities. Akane never walked home like she used to with Ranma after school - those days were long gone. The ring of the school bell at the end of the end of the day signaled the beginning of her new training. Mousse stood at the gates of Furikan High with a serious look engraved on his face as he waited for Akane. The two would quickly exchange words and the girl would soon follow after him.

Late at night, usually right before dinner was served, Akane would arrive - disheveled and out of breath. Her new choice of clothing never left Ranma's mind. Since her "training" started, Ranma noticed she seemed to favor wearing long-sleeved shirts as well as pants and scarves. The first time he saw a bruise on her, he got riled up, ready to dismember Mousse.

"I'm home!" Akane called out as she entered the house, slowly taking off her shoes. She felt herself grow a bit tense as she straightened up, a low groan escaping her lips. She favored her right leg at the moment and quickly pulled her sleeves down over her wrists in order to hide a large bruise that was starting to form.

"Good, no ones home..." she thought as she made her way to the bathroom, she was in need for a hot soak. Even though Mousse said he would not let up, a part of her wanted him to. It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

She struggled for a bit to get her sweater over her head as her arms were weak from the days' training. It proved too much as she fell over backwards with her arms still tangled in her sweater. It was then she felt her freedom as the article of clothing was removed from her. She glanced up to see a wide-eyed Ranma scowling down at her.

"Where did you get these bruises?" he hissed, his eyes narrowing at her.

Akane felt herself blush as she tried to fling her arms around her torso, her efforts proving fruitless.

Ranma took in the sight before him. Anger surged as he saw the bruising on her body, how one leg tensed up more, and the scars. Some were new, and he could see the old ones that were starting to heal. He gritted his teeth as he asked again, "Well?"

"I fell," she lied horribly and even winced at how lame of an excuse she came up with,"Ah ha, those steps by the river sure are hell, ha...ha" she tried to joke.

Ranma narrowed his eyes at her, a nagging feeling tugging at him as he pulled Akane to her feet and looked her over once more. He promised he would not say anything until she told him, but he felt the hate form for Mousse.

What he was doing to Akane, he did not know, but help him God, if he was the cause of Akane's pain, there would be hell to pay!

(...)

"I think you are ready," Mousse said as he pulled himself from the debris he was buried under, a smile etched on his face, "Actually, I am sure you were ready weeks ago. But definitely now."

Akane flashed a huge grin at her comrade as she strolled over and clapped her hands together. "Thank you Mousse, if you hadn't agreed to help..."

Mouse raised his hand to stop her mid-sentence and just smiled at her, "No, not a problem at all. Besides, you helped me too."

They stared at each other for a moment longer and Akane gave a bow, "After today, I do hope we can still stay friends." Mousse winked at her and nodded, "Same, and have good faith Akane, after all your hardships you had to endure to get where you are now, made you stronger than ever."

She extended her arm and Mousse gripped it firmly. They were out of each other's lives, for the moment, in order for thos course of action to begin - marking their reason for living.

A sense of pride overwhelmed Akane as she began her walk back home. For two months she worked endlessly, training with Mousse. Fight after fight, practice after practice, and she finally managed to complete her task at hand. She stared down at her clothes and drew up her sleeves.

No marks were visible, and that made her smile widen.

It would all soon come to an end, and everything will fall into place, after all - this was her biggest challenge yet, and Akane Tendo of Tendo's Anything Goes Martial Arts never backed down a challenge.

**###**

A/N: I wrote this using my phone, so if length is an issue, fear not! Next chapter will suit you. This time, my beta reader, Brittany Williams pre-read and edited this chapter! Yay for less grammar mistakes and spelling! Update soon ;)

I also edited this chapter because of formatting issues when I uploaded it via mobile. (actually, I am doing it again...)

Hopefully that cleared up the double post ;)


	9. Chapter 9: Wanting

**Diclaimer: **Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 9: Wanting

It grew late as Akane walked up to the gates leading to the entrance of her home, she quickly made her way inside the compound, shutting the gate behind her. She let out a soft sigh as she turned around to go inside.

She stopped in her tracks as she took in the scene in front of her: both Ukyo and Shampoo decided to make a visit today, running around in the yard chasing Ranma. Her eyes followed them in amusment for a moment before she made her way inside the house. She slumped against the door, supporting her as she slide down the frame and ended up on the floor. Surpressing her emotions, she composed herself and entered the family room.

Nabiki sat there with an open magazine in her lap, a pen dangling between her fingers as she looked up with a glint of mischief in her eyes, "Ranma-kun sure is popular with the girls, ne, Akane?"

Taking a seat next to her sister, Akane just grunted in reply and switched on the television. Nabiki raised an eyebrow at her younger sister, a smirk forming on her face, " Wild guess here, but I am going to say that you will be coming home earlier now, eh?"

Akane could not help but smile at her sister as she moved a strand of hair out of vision, "You have a knack at guessing, sis." They shared a moment of laughter before Nabiki pressed on, "Are you sure you want to go on with this, I mean," she leaned closer and began to whisper as Shampoo and Ukyo darted across the opening, pursuing Ranma, "...Ranma has already told you he wanted you...but here you are doing," she raised her free hand waving at her, "this."

Scrunching up her face, Akane retorted, "I know, but I wanted this, for so long," she clenched her fists, "And this way just ensures it." Nabiki gave her sister a look over, noticing just the subtle hints of maturity in the way she presented herself. Overwhelming pride engulfed her as she gave a half smile, "Yeah, guess that is what makes us Tendos just that."

(...)

Out of breath and finally away from his crazy fiancees, Ranma made his way inside only to be stopped by Nabiki. He cringed a bit as she had called his name, but none-the-less went to her. "Starting tomorrow, Akane is going to be coming home straight after school," she began as she took note in his brightened composition, but began to damper it as she continued, "...but she has asked me to tell you, _not _to wait for her."

His brows joined together as he seemed to scowl, but Nabiki was not finished as she turned to leave and with a smirk on her face she said, "Then again, Ranma, I only promised to tell you, nothing at all about stopping you."

(...)

The following morning was difficult for the two teens as they began their journey to school together for the first time in a long while. Akane figured Ranma would be perched up on the fence to accompany her, but was surprised as he matched her step-for-step beside her.

She casted a glance to her wayward companion, raising an eyebrow in the process. Now, she could not complain, she actually enjoyed it.

Ranma felt a light blush rise onto his face as he kept his eyes forward, he had missed walking with her. Every morning was lonely as he had to trek to Furinkan by himself only to be stopped by Shampoo and her bike.

Speak of the devil.

Shampoo's shrill voice rang in the air as her bike chirped and landed front wheel first onto Ranma's head causing him to curse and fall backwards. Akane stopped, clenched her firsts and quickly counted down from 10 in her mind before she continued on, stepping away from the scene unfolding before her.

Ranma glanced up to see her walking away, a frown forming across his handsome face as Shampoo cooed at his side. He furiously tried to brush her off, but her grip was stronger today. It was no doubt that the cause of that was because Shampoo had other thoughts racing through her mind.

"Shénme shì nàgè nǚhái? (What is she up to)" she whispered in her tongue as she watched Akane walk away.

Ranma ignored all the mutterings of the Amazon as he finally got out of her grip and ran after Akane. Shampoo sat there on the concrete silently cursing in Mandarin about the strange feeling she got that emitted from the young Tendo girl.

Reaching the school grounds, Ranma skidded into the gated yard and caught the glimpse of Akane's blue hair disappearing beyond the doorframe. A sigh of relief left him as he calmly walked to the entrance himself, shoving both hands into his pocket.

The rest of the day never broke the norm of the past few months, after the talk with Nabiki, Ranma had thought it might have changed. Sadly, nothing did. Except at the end of the day when he saw Akane bidding goodbye to her friends, expertly avoiding him, and starting to head in the direction of home.

Ignoring the calls from his friends, he sprinted after her and managed to catch up with her.

_When did she get so fast?_

"Oi, Akane!" he called out to her, extending out his arm and grasping a hold of her shoulder, turning her around to face him, "C-can't we go home together, eh?"

For a moment there, Akane frowned but her facial expression broke out into a light hearted smile as she sweetly replied, "I rather not, Ranma."

Those words sunk hard into his chest as he stared dumbfoundly at Akane, the next thing he knew he pushed her against the solid concrete wall they were next to, pinning her to him as he seemed to growl, "What are you doing?"

Akane's face cringed, this was the most force Ranma had ever exerted on her, he looked furious.

He leaned in closer, just a breath away from her lips as he asked in a tone of authority, "First you break off the damn engagement, go sneaking off with _Mousse _to god knows where, turn up home late with these damn bruises all over your body," he hissed as he continued, "You really think I am going to let you say no?"

Akane paused for a moment in her thoughts as she stared up at Ranma, she could feel the tears start to build up but she blinked them away furiously as she pushed her face forward, catching Ranma's lips in a chaste kiss before pulling away. At that, Ranma's hold had loosened and Akane pulled away.

His fingertips resting on his lips, Ranma stared in a trance-like expression at Akane. Her breath evened out as she dusted off the imaginary dust on her uniform as she turned to answer him, "I broke the engagment for reasons I will tell you later, and for the record I didn't _run off _with Mousse, I just worked with him about a little problem I had, those bruises were the results of my hard work, and quite frankly, I do not think you will no as an answer, because you are going to do that regardless since we live under the same roof."

Akane watched Ranma, the normal steel blue of his eyes turned a hazened color as he gazed on at her. Her skin goosebumped as she felt his eyes on her, his desire building up in both teens.

Ranma felt the rush of emotion flood through him as he stared, half listening to the long answer she just unfolded, the only thing he heard was that he would not take no for an answer.

Give or take that in the right context, of course.

He went forward in a quick motion, faster than what Akane could sense before he had her in his arms again, hugging her around the waist with one arm and the other on her back, pinning her once again to him as his lips captured hers in a heated kiss.

Akane's thoughts melted away as his lips claimed hers. Her body reacted on its own as she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She could feel Ranma smiling against her lips, making her gasp a bit leaving an opening for Ranma as he slipped his tongue inside.

The grunts turned to soft moans as the two remained in that state. Other students and regular civilians walked by watching in interest at such a heated performance by two good looking persons. There was the occasional wolf whistle and cat call, but it was ignored by the two lovers.

When she felt Ranma's hand slip in under her uniform and caressed her thigh, Akane's mind cleared and she pulled away, gasping, trying to even out her breathing. She quickly looked around and saw that a group of girls were giggling as she glanced over, her face reddening.

Ranma's face also mirrored hers as he dumbly scratched the back of his head and meekly said,"Sorry about that 'Kane, guess...I, eh, got carried away."

"I hope you meant that Ran-chan!"

"Airen not supposed to kiss anybody but Shampoo!"

"Oh ho ho ho! Ranma-sama's lips are tainted by lips that are not my own!"

Ranma groaned as he turned to see the three girls he absolutely did not want to see at this moment.

"Ouch, even that performance killed me," Nabiki called out as she walked past the duo, but smiled evilly as she flashed her camera, "But these hot pictures sure do help ease the pain."

Akane blushed furiously as she ran after Nabiki, calling over her shoulder to Ranma, "If you had let me finish earlier, you would have known that I meant to say, 'I rather not, _today_,' because I have to go with Nabiki into the city!"

Ranma watched her leave before the three girls started to fight over Ranma and drag him into the skirmish.

He wanted nothing more than to hold Akane back in his arms.

(...)

"That was some kind of romance you and Ranma shared back there!" Nabiki said grinning at her younger sister.

"I thought you said you were going to wait for me at home!" Akane shot back.

Nabiki shrugged, "Part of my gut told me to go find you, and when I do, profit!"

Akane sighed as she shook her head and got into the cab with her sister, Nabiki folded her ledger in her lap and glanced at the small wrist watch she had, "This meeting should not last longer than an hour. After that, little sister, it is all up to you."

She nodded as she clenched her fists, the next phase starts now.

**###**

**A/N: **Alright! I wrote this from my phone again, and upliaded it via mobile, hopefully the formatting will be okay, yes, mmm, a little scene between Ranma and Akane ohh yeah :)

Next chapter will be about the meeting and the next step, and possibly more Ranma and Akane private moments full of fluff.


	10. Chapter 10: Legality

**Disclaimer:** Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 10: Legality

The mere size of the building intimidated Akane as the cab pulled in its' parking lot. She casted a wayward glance at her sister who only ignored her as she was animatedly talking to the cab driver about the fare.

Her eyes scanned the enormous building, struck dumb at how a building could leave such an impact on her. Then again, one does not see architecture like those in the prefecture of Nerima...or last that long. After a few short moments, as Nabiki's chatter slowed, so did the cab driver's. From her wallet, Nabiki withdrew a couple of bills and huffily told Akane, "Lets go, Miyazaki isn't one who likes to wait." With a nod, Akane got out of the cab and followed her sister into the building. They reached the elevator and Nabiki's slender finger repeatedly jammed against the number indicating the 11th floor.

The doors mechanically closed and the whirring of the elevator took place as they slowly climbed floor-by-floor, only to have stopped twice in the whole process. A loud ding emitted from the display, indicating that they have reached their destintation - the doors opened and the two siblings stepped out onto a polished floor level with beautifully arranged furniture all around. With another ding, the elevator's doors closed and the mechanics whirred once again, indicating that it was going back down.

With the utmost grace, Nabiki began to stroll towards one of the bigger doors that were to Akane's left. She followed after her. After a moment, Nabiki had raised her fist to knock on the door.

"Come in, come in." the voice behind the door said.

Nabiki had cast a quick smirk to Akane as she opened the door to reveal a huge office with a desk in the center of the room with a twenty-something guy sitting behind it with a huge leering grin. Her sister made her way to the person with a huge smile plastered on her face, "Thank you for seeing us today Miyazaki."

Akane gaped at the guy as he stood up to extend his greetings and with a quiet disposition about him, he replied, "Of course Nabiki." Nabiki then ushered Akane over and she took a seat in front of Miyazaki. For a moment, he seemed to try to evaluate her, then and there but soon broke that when he asked, "Your sister asked me about some strange claims that you have encountered, and might I just say, Ms. Tendo, you are one tenacious lady for even staying in the, metaphorically speaking, fight this long. You must really care for this Saotome character."

Akane tried to fight the blush that threatened to appear and won, "If I didn't, Miyazaki-san, I wouldn't be here now."

He smiled at Akane as he took his seat and leaned forward, a devilish smirk on his face, "What if I told you, your claim would be the one to outweigh all the others?"

Blinking, Akane straightened up and confidently replied, "Then, Miyazaki-san, I would say, my sister did a great job in putting such faith in you to handle this. And thank you."

He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands in his lap as he replied, "As I understand it, the strongest claim to break would be the Amazon law. And, from what Nabiki told me, you are already one step ahead in the game?"

With a curt nod, Akane gave her reply, "I have made my own preperations."

Joining his index fingers to a point Miyazaki stated, "According to their law, Saotome is this," he leaned forward and read the information off a piece of paper, "Xian Pu? Is that right... Anyways, her husband?"

Akane nodded.

"She has also issued you the Kiss of Death, and to Saotome's girl side, before she knew he was a male. Hmm," he sat back, "You heard of loopholes right? Like, for instance, a law created so long ago most people forget about it, but it still stands? Well, after much funding from your dear sister, I noted some, discrepancies with the hierarchy in reference for marriages and claims."

"Women are everything from the village Xian Pu originates from, should you, a female outsider decide to challenge Shampoo for Saotome in a formal fight, she would have no choice but to give in, but," he saw Akane start to interrupt, "Here is where the discrepancies begin. It seems that when this law was made, that the actual act of it being played about was casted off as an impossibility, they seemed to have neglected it, this in turn favors you."

"Should you issue a formal fight, and Shampoo however refuses it, nothing happens. However, the issue is this, Shampoo cannot, by law, refuse your fight - because you are under the Kiss of Death, should she refuse - this is considered a worse shame than returning without Saotome. Women's pride, should it come to no surprise, is their downfall. I don't think I have to tell you what happens when you win."

Nabiki and Akane listened with interest to Miyazaki and nodded in agreement. Nabiki seemed to smirk as she rested her arm on the rest of the chair, "Seems like we got one case completely under wraps, but what about the other case?"

"Ah, that one was easy, how stupid can a person be for the sake of a dowry," Miyazaki said shaking his head and reaching out to get an important looking piece of paper out, "This is more than enough to reimburse any collatoral damage for the chef girl you spoke of, should she question it, have her call my office."

Akane raised an eyebrow at that and was about to question it when Nabiki rose and said, "Our hour is up, thank you again Miyazaki, I will keep you in touch with what happens."

He stoood up, shook both girls hands and said, "Much luck, Ms. Tendo." All Akane could do was nod her head and follow Nabiki out of the office.

(...)

"How did you find that guy?" Akane asked as they were entering the house.

Nabiki seemed to smile, "Hmm, met him at club last year and decided to keep him close when I found out what he could do, ne, he came in handy today, yes?" Akane giggled at her sisters' antics as she slyly retorted, "That's not all is it, Nabiki? Hrrm, if I didn't know you better, I would say you had a crush on Miyazaki-san."

Nabiki blushed hard and waved her arms, "No! Strictly business, little sister."

Akane smirked and just nodded her head, she did not want to push the subject any more as she had helped her do practically the impossible.

Now, all Akane had to do was finish the loose ties with Shampoo and Ukyo. No thought came towards Kodachi, seeing how she would eventually get over this fling for Ranma, she was no real threat.

As she took her shoes off in the house, she came head-to-head with a bruised Ranma standing near the staircase, with the first aid kit beside him.

Nabiki quickly looked at Akane and gave her a wink before walking past the duo and up to her room.

(...)

"Sorry about earlier," Akane said as she cleaned one area with alcohol and then proceeded to put a bandage over it, "I _told _Nabiki to tell you not to wait for me," Ranma cringed as he recalled that conversation and half laughed to himself, "I am willing to bet she twisted my words, sorry about that, Ranma."

All he did in return was nod his head slightly as the girl in front of him tended to his injuries with such a calming grace he chastised himself for ever calling her a brute.

"Why can't we go back to being fiancees?" he broke the awkward silence.

Akane blinked and her lips formed into a tight line across her face as she simply replied, "Not until the business with your other, ahem, fiancees are taken care of - I won't."

So, there was a chance?

But Ranma knew himself to not hurt girls', especially on a touchy subject that they all seemed to be treading dangerously thin on.

"But, it's _you_ I want to be my fiancee," he seemed to blurt out, he quickly caught his mistake but made no amends to try in hide it as Akane gave him one of her heart-stopping smiles, "That's sweet, Ranma."

"_I really wished you told me that before, but I doubt my mind would have changed...I want to tell you what I have been doing, but...doing it this way makes it easier. Because if you knew, I know how upset you would be if you knew the whole truth._" Akane thought to herself.

As she finished the last bandage she pulled herself away and stood up with the box in her hands, "There, all touched up."

Ranma gazed up to her eyes, and they both felt the tension the other one felt, sending both teens involuntairly shivers down their spines.

That was all it took for Ranma to grab ahold of Akane, making her drop the box, falling to the ground with a clank and its contents spilling out, and pushing her against the wall. He held one hand in an interlocking hold with his fingers around hers and the other one at the side of her head, holding her steady as he kissed her.

At first, Akane did not know what Ranma was doing and was shocked to find herself pinned to the wall, but when she realized what was happening, she lost her senses and gave in to the kiss.

The soft gasps escaped from both teens as Ranma dominated over her, both of their breaths became uneven as he pulled her even closer to him, and he moved his kisses down her neck.

"N-no, Ranma," Akane moaned as he began to favor a patch of skin on her neck, making her squirm in his hold, pleasure shooting coursing through her body, but that all stopped when they both saw a bright flash.

Ranma pulled away and saw Nabiki at the foot of the staircase, grinning so evilly, "My, my, now _these _pictures are hot."

Akane blushed a bright red and Ranma did too, he tried for the camera.

"Give me that camera, Nabiki!" he shot out.

Nabiki stood back, tauntingly, "Oh geez, Ranma-kun, kissing your ex-fiancee with such passion! This will be a hot story!"

Akane knew Nabiki was kidding, but the ploy got Ranma all bothered.

"You bitch!" He said as he caught a hold of the camera and broke it, "I can't let ya ruin Akane's reputation like that! She's your damn sister, Nabiki - don't you have morals!"

Nabiki grinned from ear-to-ear, "Well, well, Ranma-kun, bravado." And she clapped her hands together and gave a quick knowing look to Akane before leaving.

Akane approached Ranma, putting a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at her. Letting out the breath she knew she was holding she said, "Ranma, I just want you to know, whatever happens next, that my feelings for you will never change."

He narrowed his eyes, his heart started to race as she said, "I love you, Ranma."

**###**

**A/N: **Alright! This chapter is done, and I think a total of three or four more chapters will wrap this story up!

Once again, I have written this story on my phone, so the formatting might be a bit off, and warning: next chapter will be a very long chapter as it involves some Amazons! :)


	11. Chapter 11: Claims

**Disclaimer: **Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 11: Claims

Ranma stared down at the girl who just confessed her feelings to him, he felt a huge weight being lifted from his shoulders but before he could say anything, she stepped away from him.

He opened his mouth to answer her, but her hand came up and clasped over his mouth, "If you don't mind, Ranma, could you keep whatever you were going to say, to yourself, for now?"

Confused more than ever, he just nodded and she let go of him. Regardless of what she just told him, he was going to tell her his feelings, but the next words out of her mouth stopped him and a pained expression spread across his face.

"I am going to fight Shampoo."

"Oh hell no," momentarily forgetting what his true intentions where, he started to argue and he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, "Do you have a death wish, you stupid tomboy?"

His words cut through her, but she did not falter from her statement, looking him straight into his eyes, "_No_, I don't but I thought I would be nice enough to tell you beforehand."

Ranma's nerves frayed as he held her, his anger growing, "What is up with the sudden declaration of fighting her?"

As if he had to _know_, Akane craned her neck to get a good look at him, "For the sake of my honor, and yours."

"Honor?"

"Honestly Ranma," she spat, "Aren't you the least bit tired of this whole fiancee ordeal? Shampoo's always spouting off about how Amazon law this, Amazon law that, well - quite frankly, I am tired of it!"

"Why do you have to go an' say you're gonna fight her then?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"I know of an old Amazonian Law that will break her claim to you," she said in a low tone, as his grip seemed to tighten around her wrist.

"I don't want you to go anywhere near her," he threatened, "I won't allow you to fight her."

"Why!" she almost screamed, "You don't _own _me, I decided this on my own!"

Ranma cringed as he stared her down, "She's an _Amazon_, 'Kane, her skills," he mentally berated himself as he continued, "Surpasses yours by no measure."

Akane surprised him by managing to flip him, releasing his hold on her, and staring down at her fallen opponent, she said, "Then I guess training to get better is out of the question, ne, Ranma?"

His senses were overloaded by both amazement and desire for his friend, for her strength was tenfold more than before, and the speed in which she acted out on was astonishing. He gaped at her, stuttering nonsense, unable to form intelligble sentences.

Akane huffed, and crossed her arms in front of her, "Next time, Ranma, I might not tell you my plans if you act like this," but then she knelt down and kissed his forehead, "But thanks for caring."

(...)

_"Aiya, airen visit Shampoo!" Shampoo cheered as she put down the tray she had in her hands and pounced onto Ranma, but was rejected as Ranma outstretched his arms to avoid contact and with a cold face said, "Get Cologne."_

_Shampoo stood her ground, her mind running to the conclusion that her airen finally would give in and needed to speak to Great-Grandmother to confirm it, so without a second thought, she ran to fetch the elder Amazon._

_Mousse stood at a table, wiping it down, when he turned his attention to the door, Ranma stood there with his arms across his chest, looking angry, yet subdued at the same time._

_About this time, Shampoo came back with Cologne bouncing on her staff, a huge grin plastered on her face, "Ah, son-in-law, you've finally come to your senses and wish to go forth with your marriage with my Shampoo?"_

_Ranma glared at her, but said nothing as a voice from behind him spoke, "I don't recall him saying anything like that, and for the record, he just asked to see you."_

_The Amazons all turned and saw Akane walk in, her posture and grace said it all, Mousse took note in how well she prrsented herself and mentally congratulated the Japanese martial artist, she could have easily been a wonderful Amazon._

_Cologne noticed the pose Akane took when she stood in front of her for a moment before engaging in an kow-tow position, she declared, " __Wǒ, Tendo, Akane, tiǎozhàn nǐ de sūnnǚ yī pīn. Zài wéijí guāntóu, tā zhàngfū de zìyóu, yǐjí wǒ de sǐwáng zhī wěn. ( I__, Tendo Akane, challenge your granddaughter to a fight. At stake, her husband's freedom, and my kiss of death.)"_

_To say Cologne was surprised to no end would have been an understatement, and a rush of incohesive thoughts bomb-barding her mind , trying to comprehend what was unfolding before her._

_"No," she hissed in her mind, seeing exactly what was going on here, and mentally berated her grand daughter for putting them in the position they now held. Akane, unmoved, kept silent as she remained in that position, she had to wait until Colonge gave her answer._

_Cologne looked about, Ranma had his eyes pried away, looking towards the outside, through the open door. Shampoo stood oblivious to the situtation, and for a moment, Cologne felt as if Mousse had a hand in this ordeal._

_She knew the consequences of denying the fight, or rather the reason why she can not, "Damn Shampoo for ever giving her the Kiss of Death," she felt a migraine coming on and right when she was about to reply, she remembered something._

_This was Akane Tendo issuing the challenge, she laughed internally, true the girl had _some_ skill, but not enough for her grand daughter that she could not handle. And she would be alone in the fight, with no help, this would just make their claim all the stronger._

_With a grin, she replied, "__Chéngrèn hé...Jiēshòu. (Acknowledged and... Accepted)"_

_As soon as she heard the familiar word Mousse told her that would seal her fate, she stood up and bowed once more before she said, "The fight will be three days from now, expect me to go all out."_

_Shampoo jumped at this, and smirked, thinking that this was an easy obstacle to take care of, and from her Grandmother's smirk, knew that she thought it too._

_Cologne was impressed when she said three, just the same as if they were back in China, same rules, different fighters. She made a mental note to tell Shampoo not to kill her but just enough, to prove their claim, this Tendo girl proved very interesting._

(...)

"I didn't know you knew Chinese," Ranma inquired after their little rendezvous at the Cat Cafe.

"I don't," Akane replied curtly, "I was taught that phrase and what I was expected to hear if my challenge was accepted."

A part of Ranma felt a somewhat new feeling for the young girl, her determination was one key factor that he fell for, and he blushed, knowingly that maybe he could match it and tell her his feelings. But he respected her wishes, and kept mouth shut.

"Who taught you?" he asked, already guessing the answer.

"Mousse," she replied.

Bingo. Ranma had hit the mark.

"Ah, that was nice of him," Ranma shrugged as he followed behind her. She seemed to shrug, "It was part of the plan -ah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that..." She stopped in her tracks, Ranma did too. He narrowed his eyes, he was beginning to put two and two together, lines of worry formed on her forehead. "Akane...tell me what you've been up to, these last few months," he began, staring her down.

Akane gulped, and the all too familiar anger started to rise in her, but she pushed it aside as she looked at him and let out a sigh. Since her confession, she felt lighter tham ever before. Even though she is unsure of Ranma's answer, she wholeheartedly believes that Ranma cares about her too.

"I will tell you at home," she said.

(...)

Ranma shut Akane's door behind him and sat on her bed with her. Letting out a sigh, she made a bold move that made Ranma blush furiously, she took his hands in hers and stared straight into his eyes.

"Ranma, promise me you won't get mad, or try to hurt anyone after what I tell you?" she began, she saw him nod, "Alright, a few months ago... I decided that enough was enough, I realized just how much I really love you," she quickly unclasped her hand from his and smacked it over his mouth as he was beginning to say something, she whispered, "Please, not yet?", he blinked to indicate that he understood, she lowered her hand and clasped his again and returned to her normal voice.

"After that little...ordeal we had with you hitting me," she felt him tense, "And the thing with Hiro, I saw a different perspective, hah, and that was that I am just head over heels, madly in love with an arrogant jerk, who...is engaged to me and is honor bound to marry me in the future. Well, call me stupid but I want to marry someone who loves me, not because they have to...and then I got this great idea - give you up! So... I did, but I felt like... it still wasn't fair for you, and that you should decide a say in your future, and as a _gentleman_ you are, I know you can't bring yourself to hurt them," she squeezed his hands lightly, "But I could... So I came up with a plan to clear all their claims to you, so you can choose in the end, no strings attached."

Ranma felt his heart wench, and looked lovingly into Akane's eyes, he felt her pain at that moment and knew that everything she did was for him, without a doubt. He felt the hurt that came the implication that he could not hold feelings for her, like she does for him, but that stupid tomboy would not let him express his feelings (annoying to no end) but kept his tongue. He would be able to tell her soon.

"Of all the fiancee's, Shampoo is the hardest to yield, seeing that her laws should take precedence over everything, so I sought out help from Nabiki... And Mousse." There he goes again, gripping a bit harder on her hands, "Initially, I wanted you to help, but you always pull your punches when we spar, and I knew if I really wanted to improve, I had to find a partner who would not hold back against me, and Mousse agreed train me. And that's what I did, nonstop, everyday."

His grip got stronger as he pulled her close to him, the bed squeaked under them as he harshly whispered, "He caused those damn injuries? When I get my hands on that bast-" he did not finish his statement as Akane pushed forward and she kissed him for a brief moment, catching him off guard - she then sharply, but sweetly said, "You promised you wouldn't get mad," she watched him blush and nod for her to continue. Dispite his front he put on, he struggled to keep himself in check.

"So, I trained...and sparred with Mousse, he taught me the way Amazons would fight one another, and informed me of an old law he vaguely remembered, and suggested I look into it. Sure enough, I present it to Nabiki who had this guy, Miyazaki, find out about the law, and sure enough...it is there. And I am using it against them," she smirked, "And Mousse had taught me the correct form on how to issue such a challenge, which you saw today and...as far as everything else, that is all I managed."

Ranma, now closer to Akane, could feel her hesitation as she let out a sigh, "Stupid of me, huh?"

He looked down at her, brows forming a v as he said, "No, ya ain't stupid, Akane..." he thought for a brief moment, "You're just creative."

She squeezed his hands one last time, "You'll be there, at the fight?" He smiled down at her and gave her a small hug, "Yeah, I'll be that obnoxious jackass cheering his ass off for you."

He felt her smile against him, and in turn his heart soared to new heights as he whispered inaudibly, "I love you."

**###**

**A/N: **Sweet! The premise for the next chapter is set, and be warned! The next one will be (or I will try) packed with action, dealing with all THREE fiancees.

Hopefully you got the dialog, and the missing "scenes" to help out with the story. :) And good gosh, I love OpenOffice, that is the program I use on my phone to write this fanfiction on, haha. Convience! :D


	12. Chapter 12: Fiancees

**Disclaimer:** Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 12: Fiancees

With only one more day until the fight, Akane sat in the family room watching the television. But she was only half paying attention as her mind was elsewhere. In the past few days, she had shut herself in the dojo mindlessly training hour-by-hour but Ranma had stopped her when he walked in on her last night on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion - he _made_ her stop and rest.

She mumbled as she snapped our of her reverie and turned the television off. Stretching out her legs, Akane spotted a particular bruise that had not healed over. Looking around, she lifted her skirt a bit more, revealing the top of her thigh and a large purple bruise.

Putting her hand over it, she pressed down on it gently. No pain came from it but when she retracted her hand a white indentation of her finger tips lingered and then returned back to the purple. A sigh escaped her lips as she recalled the incident that created it, as well as another one that made her remember that she had it. Blushing furiously, she muttered, "Stupid Ranma..." but smiled none-the-less.

"Whose stupid?"

Struck frozen, Akane quickly turned around and stared at Ranma who had two drinks in his hands. His eyes caught sight of the bruise, and part of his mind, the perverted part, thought, "_So, that's the reason she pulled away that day..._" Quickly snapping out of shock, she pulled her skirt back down to the modest length and blushed, "N-no one in particular."

He raised an eyebrow and gave an all too-knowing smirk, "Hrm, okay 'Kane." He sat down next to her, offering her one of the drinks he had. She took it and glugged half of it down. With an amused look on his face, "Thirsty, hmm?" She sighed and smiled up at him, "I guess, I didn't realize it, thanks Ranma." He gave a curt nod as he took a drink of his.

They sat in an awkward silence before Ranma spoke up, "Uh, shouldn't ya be restin' up for tomorrow?" Akane rolled her eyes playfully, "I rested last night." He scrunched up his face, "You know what I mean, dummy." She could not help but giggle, "I know, I'm just kidding, but..."

She sat in silence before she finished, "I am restless."

Ranma shifted nervously from his spot as he watched Akane's empty gaze at the wall. He understood how she must be feeling, the anticipation of the fight tomorrow was eating him alive - just imagine how she must feel! He pushed past his inhibitions and reached out for her and held her in an innocent embrace. She tensed up at this intimate gesture and blushed. Slowly, she eased into the hold and relaxed.

They sat that way for a while until Ranma realized that the girl in his arms had fallen asleep. The soft rise and fall of her chest and slow breathing caught his attention as he looked down at the girl. A smile crept across his face as he slowly got up and brought her to her room. He put her to bed and tucked her in.

That night, Akane had the sweetest dreams she ever had.

(...)

She tied the last tie on her gi as she straightened up in the reflection of her mirror. Today marked the day of the fight, and she was a bit nervous. To fight someone who was continously told that she could never match in a fight was a bit overwhelming, but that did not shake Akane.

A knock on her door caught her attention as she turned to face Mousse. She gave him a friendly smile, "Good morning Mousse." He smiled at her, "I came by to say good luck, Akane. I know how important this is to you, and," he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, "Don't worry," he said as he saw her become apprehensive, "That symbolized luck, nothing else." Relief flooded through her, she thought a million other interpretations and was relieved at the true outcome.

"Thanks Mousse, you've been a great friend." She said.

He turned to leave as he replied, "Same to you, Akane."

Just as he was leaving, Ranma was coming up and he gave the duck boy a glare before barging into Akane's room. She turned around to see him at the doorway, arms crossed in front of him, "You ready?"

Ranma tried to look calm and collected, too bad his voice betrayed him as he seemed to hesitate in his question. But regardless, she took a deep breath and answered him, "As I ever will be."

(...)

Shampoo stood beside her grandmother with a huge grin plastered on her face, she was conversing when she felt the aura of her opponent. Looking up, she casted a quick glance at her "prize" and then back at Akane.

"Ready to lose, pervert girl?" Shampoo sneered.

Ranma backed away from Akane and stood alongside Mousse. The two males exchanged a glance, proceeded to nod to one another and then turn to the match in front of them.

"Well, this match too too easy, be sad that it wo-" Shampoo had began taunting but did not finish it as she felt an immense pain at her side. If it had not been for her quick reflexes, another strike would have connected. Akane breathed evenly as she stood back, in a fighting stance, watching her opponent.

She had underestimated her for a brief moment and Shampoo found herself laughing, but then sprinted towards Akane. Their war cries echoed in the open fields as they clashed against one another. Shampoo's attacks connected more than Akane's and Akane's body was feeling the toil.

Shampoo charged at Akane, throwing her fists directly at her exposed torso as Akane lifted her arms to defend. Akane countered with a quick uppercut, giving her a brief opening and grabbed her opponent's shoulders, hoisting her above her head and throwing her. Shampoo flipped herself right, slid across the field and righted herself. She felt her legs go limp from impact, but she found herself running towards Akane, this was a real fight after all, and Tendo said she would go all out.

Ranma stood there, clenching his fists and biting the inside of his mouth. Everytime he saw Shampoo connect her hit, he flinched and found himself having to restrain himself from interferring in the fight. On the other hand, Mousse was perched down on his knees watching the fight with knowing eyes, he muttered under his breath, "Come on, Tendo, come on."

Incoherent thoughts raced through Akane's mind as she dodged a multitude of punches and series of kicks that followed. She watched her opponent and parried her attacks, getting a hit and kick in. A sudden attack from her left side, Akane found herself spinning and twisting her ankle, the pain was immense but she found herself high on the adrenaline and kept going.

Shampoo's hand came flying by her face, and the long nails she had scraped against the skin above her right eye and blood immediately rushed down onto her face. She brought a hand up to get the blood out of her eyes, and that costed her - Shampoo had taken advantage of that and struck her in the stomach.

The impact almost made Akane double over, almost.

With a cry, Akane went forward and began a series of punches that landed on spontaneous locations over Shampoo's body. Each hit seemed to feel as though a sharp jolt of fire was webbed in them. Unbeknownst to Shampoo, earlier in the fight Akane had hit a certain pressure point that would have that effect.

Shampoo doubled over and Akane sent a round house kick that hit her in the back, making her crash head first into the ground with a sickening thunk. The audience of three cringed when they heard the snapping. Akane stood above Shampoo's body, breathing heavily, and as she was about to deliver her final attack, a staff poked her midsection, stopping her mid-attack.

She looked up to see Cologne, her face engraved with fear as she said, "This match is over, you have won Tendo."

Akane slumped forward then, only to be caught in the arms of Mousse and Ranma, hoisting her up. Mousse then helped her into Ranma's arms who instantly assessed the injuries she had and winced at the swelling at her ankle. Mousse smiled at the two, nodded his head and went over to a grief-striken Amazon elder to help her granddaughter.

"Akane?" Ranma whispered as he nuzzled her close to his chest, she stirred a bit and sighed, "Bring me home Ranma." He nodded and turned to the Amazons. Mousse held a limp, but breathing, Shampoo in his arms and Cologne turned to the couple, "Shampoo's claims on the two of you have been settled..." She seemed to glare at Akane and Ranma held onto her harder, "We have no business with the two of you."

Without another word, they dissappeared from the field and left Akane and Ranma alone. Ranma looked down at the girl in his arms, and a protective smile spread across his face, "I'm so proud of ya, tomboy...you sure put Shampoo in her place." Her eyes were still closed, but her lips curled into a smile as she shifted to nuzzle her face into his shirt, "Hmm."

Holding onto her carefully as to not hurt her anymore, he slowly began the path home.

(...)

"Ouch," Akane said through her teeth as Ranma cleaned the scratch above her eye, "Easy on the alcohol rub, Ranma," she shot out. Ranma grinned down at her, "You got it, tomboy."

She hmphed and sat still as he tended to her smaller injuries, and when it came to her foot he stared at it and put it hands on in gently, gently putting it back in place and then wrapping it up. "You are lucky you only sprained your foot," he seemed to whisper, "It coulda been worse."

He felt her shift and he glanced up to see her shrug, "It was a chance I had to take," then she turned to look at him, eye-to-eye as she said, "And honestly, I'd do it again, did you see me out there? It felt great to hit her like that!" She began to grin wildly with satisfaction, "I did it, I really did it..."

Ranma gave a small smile as he finished wrapping her foot and replied, "You sure did Akane."

They shared that moment in silence before he noticed Akane looking at her bruises, which were turning a violent shade of purple, and the small scratches all over her that were banadaged over. She gingerly ran her finger across the bruise on her chest, "This one hurts the most, it feels so...hot," she said, lost for words on how to explain it. But Ranma understood, his injuries after a good fight were like that, but he quickly healed from it, Akane, on the otherhand, would feel it for a while before it healed.

"Yeah, let it heal," he said, "It'll feel much better then."

Akane looked over to Ranma and gave a big grin, "Thanks Ranma."

(...)

Two days passed before Akane had left her room, she had spent the majority of it sleeping. She looked over to a huge stack next to her bed with the homework she had missed, as well as class notes. With a heavy sigh she made her way downstairs slowly as she limped. Ranma stood at the foot of the stairs, he watched her climb down, "Good mornin, 'Kane."

"Mornin', Ranma," she replied, "I'm going to Ucchan's, do you want to come?"

Other than being shocked to accompany her, he looked at the light scarring on Akane's face, as well as the receeding bruises, he noted how well she was healing.

"Uh, yeah...sure." He finally managed to say.

And so, after getting on her shoes, they trudged down the street towards Ucchan's, but before they reached there, Akane stopped abruptly in front of a sweet's cart vendor. Ranma raised an eyebrow at this, but kept quiet. Akane seemed to know the old guy, and even managed to get a free donut. He was too engrossed in trying to figure out the situation that he was unaware of the fact that Akane had a donut hovering in front of his face.

"Hn?" he questioned as his eyes focused on it.

"Mr. Po wants you to have one, they are really good," Akane said with a smile as she popped it into Ranma's open mouth. He chewed on it and was astonished at the burst of flavors colliding in his mouth, "So good!" he exclaimed. Akane giggled as she thanked the vendor and went back to going to Ucchan's.

"How did you about that guy?" Ranma asked, smacking his lips.

"I used to frequent his cart all the time," Akane replied.

"Eh, first I heard you talk of 'im, why'dja stop then?"

"Someone told me I had thick thighs...so I stopped eating sweets."

Ranma stopped in his tracks as Akane seemed to walk on. He knew who that someone was, and sure as hell, he knew it was him. It never occured to him, but he understood it now. Akane had tried to be everything he said she was not...and his words, she had taken seriously.

And the fact was, she still loved him.

_Damn it._

He snapped out of his thoughts and ran to catch up with her. The discovery still fresh on his mind, all the while he chastised himself for not realizing it earlier. They soon neared the entrance of Ucchan's when Akane turned to Ranma and smiled a small smile. She entered first.

Ukyo looked up from her grill, "Welcome to Ucchan's - oh, Akane, hey, what can I serve up for you?" The resturaunt was not at all filled yet, seeing how she just opened, so Akane took advantage of that, "I want to talk to you about something," and at this point, Ranma walked in. "RANCHAN!" Ukyo squealed as she began to pour batter on the hot grill, "Just sit right there sweetie, I got you a breakfast combo comin' up."

Ranma hesitated for a moment, stared at Akane, but then spoke up, "No, ain't here for that, I am just escortin' Akane..."

It was then that Ukyo saw Akane's bruised state, she seemed to wince as she saw how she wobbled. A sadistic part of her made her say, "What, get in a fight with Shampoo and lose?"

"On the contrary, I won." Akane said as she made it over to the grill and took a seat.

Ukyo's face paled as she took in Akane's injuries again, accessing the situation before she worsens it. "Ah, well what is you want to talk about?"

Tucked neatly under her arm was a manila envelope that Akane held out to Ukyo. Ukyo stared at it for a moment, reached out and opened it. Pulling out the contents, her eyes got big as she read over it.

"T-this is-" she began to stutter.

Akane nodded, "It is exactly what it is Ukyo, and quite frankly quite legal."

Flabbeeghasted, Ukyo reread the whole thing. It was a document, and very much legal, bimding that paid for the dowry, plus expenses of all the years of her "endeavors" for the dowry, plus compensation for grief. Ukyo gawked at the sum, and immediately her eyes rounded and slammed it down, "No way this is..this is real." Akane turned her hands over and shrugged, "Real as I am sitting here giving it to you."

Ukyo blinked, looked down at the paper and then casted a quick glance at Ranma, her emotions were haywire and her feelings were split in half. She loved Ranma, right?

But why was this money looking more favorable?

She could expand, fix up the place and open more restaurants, she could be the _biggest_ name in the food industry.

Yet, she was so sure she loved Ranma.

"Do you accept it?" Akane asked.

Ukyo, torn, thought for a moment and decided, "I do."

With that, Akane rose and extended her arm, which in return Ukyo shook it, "Congratulations, Ukyo."

(...)

Ranma matched Akane's slow stride as they walked home. He was unsure of what had happened in Ucchan's, but he kept his silence. He looked over his ex-fiancee and saw just how tired she looked, not just physically, but mentally. He knew it must be taking all her strength to walk home in her condition, but her pride would not let her reach out for help.

"What do you think of Kodachi?" Akane asked out of the blue.

Ranma stopped and stared at her, "She's a psychotic gymnast, what is there to think of?"

Akane's lips curled into a smile, "Okay."

**###**

**A/N: **Long chapter, eh? Well, guess what two chapters are left in store for this... And then I will be posting another chapter long series, an alternate universe one.

Hopefulky I portrayed the story well. Thanks for reading, and staying with me so far!


	13. Chapter 13: The Choice

**Disclaimer: **Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 13: The Choice

During dinner that night, Ranma felt as though something was wrong. It kept bothering him, but he could not quite put his finger on it. He shot a quick glance over to his father whose eating manners were of the norm, Soun even had his regular façade means of a newspaper opened out in front of him.

Even Nabiki was eating her food slowly, bit-by-bit like she normally does - along with her ledger wide open on the table with her eyes reading the contents.

Something was wrong.

Ranma started to get frustrated as he ate, he knew something was out of place, but he could not figure it out! Just then he heard footsteps coming from the front of the house, he craned his neck and saw Akane walking towards the family room with a light smile on her face.

"I'm home! Sorry I'm late!" she called out.

He could have face faulted right then and there, but not wanting to make a scene he let out a sigh of relief as he understood what was bothering him. He shook his head, a light blush forming at his cheeks, as he chirped in along with the family welcoming her back.

She sat down happily, minding her ankle, next to Ranma and picking up her chopsticks and began to eat the fish and rice. He casted a sideways glance at the awfully chippy girl beside him, "_Wonder what she's so happy 'bout..._"

Breaking his concentration, Akane had abruptly put down her chopsticks and quickly looked at her sister. Nabiki looked up and grinned wildly. The two Tendo sisters then cocked their heads towards their father and in the most sickly sweet voice the two could muster up they both said, "Daddy, can we ask a favor," then the double threat entered as they gave pleading eyes, "Please?"

Soun broke out in a nervous sweat at he looked at his two daughters from behind the newspaper he had lowered. Genma had an aphrehensive look on his face, but decided not to butt in.

"Yes?" Soun gulped.

It was Nabiki who spoke, "We know how much you love us, right, daddy?"

Soun could just feel his wallet being depleted of his money as he replied, "O-of course."

Akane gave a curt nod to her sister and Nabiki continued, "Well, I want out of this engagement with Ranma-kun," Ranma spat out his food and stared disbelieving at the scene unfolding, "It is _so_ ridiculous to have to _honor_ such an old tradition, I am sure mommy wouldn't want me in a loveless marriage," and in her mind she added, "_Especially if your spouse is really in love with your sister, hehe._"

Soun began to have a hot sweat downpour the side of his face. Of course his wife would want the best for her daughters... he cast a quick nervous look at his friend and back to his daughter.

"But...Nabiki! The family...the dojo," Soun sputtered.

"Father," she sternly said, "Consider your words."

(...)

And, that is how it came to be...

Ranma had retreated to the roof for the night for the first time as a "single" man. He tried to replay the scene in his mind, but he could not. His thoughts raced in circles around Akane. He scrunched up his face, forming his brows together at the base as he placed Akane's influence in the past few events.

Everything she had done was to ensure him a choice in his future, but it suddenly dawned on him - Akane made no effort so she could be in his.

It was all for him and she had dropped out of the race.

This agitated Ranma, she had said she loved him. Did she think he did not? He recalled all her actions: stopping him before he could say anything, and a sad look of apprehension on her face each time.

He frowned, he knew that must be it. Bolting up, he turned his attention to the clattering underneath him. Akane was probably getting ready for bed and in the process, probably knocked something over.

A smile crept across his face as he heard the ruffles of the bedsheets and then silence. He laxed and laid back down, gazing at the stars. His eyes followed the constellations and soon gave way to sleep.

The next morning, he heard his name being called. He groggily turned over and made his way to waking up. Upon sitting up, he shivered as he remembered he stayed the night on the roof. He padded his way down and in to the family room where breakfast was being served.

Letting out a yawn, he took his usual seat next to Akane and began to eat. He took a look around and saw that his father was eating in a slower manner, as if lost in thought. Soun was once again reading the newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee. Akane sat next to him, humming a silent tune as she ate her breakfast. Nabiki was not even present.

He rubbed his eyes and continued to eat, but stopped when he felt a tug at his shirt. He gave a nonchalant glance down to see Akane's fingers tugging at it. His eyes wandered up and saw the 'I-need-to-tell-you-something-in-private' look in her eyes. He finished off his plate and both him and Akane retreated upstairs to her room.

She took the seat next to her bed while she motioned Ranma to her bed. He gulped as he followed suit and sat down.

"Ok, I wanted to be the first to tell you," she said as she turned her hands over in her lap, "That way, you won't get mad."

Mad?

"Honestly," she gave a weak chuckle, "It would be nice if you did," she added in her mind, "_Atleast that way I know you care..._"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm, since this whole engagement thing is over, and I don't have to worry about your other suitors saving face if I have to go off someplace and my father making you come along," she began, "I am leaving."

Her words struck him hard.

"Leaving, what the hell?" his voice rising.

Akane put a reassuring hand on his lap and looked into his eyes, "I was scouted about a year ago for this school in America for acting."

His mind swirled, acting? Since when did she do _acting_? His brows furrowed, "I don't understand..."

Akane let out a sigh, "I decided to go, and study there. I wanted to let you know, as much as I cherish our friendship, I wanted to let you be one of the first to know. That way," she added this part softly, "I won't get in the way for you anymore."

"You've never been in the way!" Ranma felt the blood rushing to his face, anger setting in as he grabbed ahold of the petite girl sitting in front of him, he could feel the tears stinging, aching, to break free, "Don't leave!"

Akane pursed her lips together and pushed Ranma off her, standing up and turning her back to him, crossing her arms she replied, "Look Ranma, you don't have to pretend anymore, we aren't 16 anymore. I made my choice," she choked back her tears, "I think, if you really are a friend of mine...t-that you should respect my decision."

Ranma felt his anger flush and overwhelming grief swallowed him whole as he said, in such a low whisper, had she not been paying attention it would have gone unnoticed, "What about my choice?"

She stood still and replied, "You made your choice long ago, remember?" Without turning around she said, "You are a great guy, Ranma. You got beautiful girls chasing you, you even said so yourself, who'd want to be with an ugly tomboy like me?"

Guilt hit him like a ton of bricks. He berated himself mentally, over and over for ever saying those words to her - he should have known it would have come back at him tenfold.

He then sat up from the bed, the squeaking followed suit and then silence filled the room before he spoke, "You're stupid, Akane."

Akane felt her blood rush to her face, she quickly turned around and all her pride fell from her when she said, "I know that Ranma! I fell in love with someone who I couldn't have. I changed myself because I tried to be something, _anything_ for you, but," her tears fell freely, "I was too stupid to ever, ever think we had a chance together, Ranma. I know that for a fact!"

Her words stung him as he watched her let go of her inhibitations and say those words. He did not literally mean she was stupid, but he was at a loss for words. He tried to salavge what he had left but was stopped when Akane held up her hand, "Stop, don't say anything. I am leaving tonight. I want us to be on good terms when I leave this life behind in Nerima, Ranma. Please, for the sake of my sanity, just leave."

He was too stunned to follow what she said, so he stood like a stone in the middle of her room. Fed up with the ordeal, she tossed her arms up in the air, "Forget it, I'll leave then," and as she was all but out the door, through her broken voice she said, "But despite that Ranma, I still love you and I wish the best for you and whoever you pick in the long run."

(...)

The plane ride was surprisingly comfortable. Akane had said her good-byes to Kasumi and Ono, as well as Nabiki, her father (who had cried a great deal about her departure, but still kept a poker face when she finally did board the plane) and Genma. She did not see Ranma, and sadness tugged at her heart, bit shrugged it off.

He has his choice in dating any girl he wanted, free to see any of the girls' she had taken their claims on him so his choice would be of his own free will. She smiled as she sunk into her seat, tears streaming down her face slowly, as she tried to think of her new life in LA, California.

When her plane stopped and she unboarded, she took in the sights around her, she let out a sigh and went to get her only luggage. Her eyes scanned the conveyor belt, she saw her yellow gym bag with little black piggy charms loop around. She reached for it, only to be intercepted in mid-grab. Furious, Akane turned to yell at the jerk who was taking her stuff but faltered when she saw who it was.

"I told you Akane, you're stupid..." Ranma said as he held her bag away from her, dangling it out of her reach as he leaned forward and captured her lips with his, pulling back and a mischievious spark in his eyes he finished, "For never letting me finish my sentences, for putting words in my mouth and making me go crazy every time I see you cry. You're stupid because you don't see just how much I am in love with your stupid ugly tomboy ass."

She stood dumbfounded.

"You're right y'know, I did make my choice a long time ago, and it never changed. I choose to love you, and I will always love you. And," he huffed, "If it means chasing you half way across the world," his gaze softened as he looked her in the eyes, "I'd do it over and over again if it meant i could be with you."

Akane felt her tears itch at the back of her eyes as she threw her arms around Ranma who staggered back from the force and dropped her bag onto the ground. He laughed boisterously as he wrapped his arms around her, "I love you, Akane Tendo!"

**THE END**

**###**

**A/N: **My head is spinning, I have written from chapter 8 to now using my phone and this itty bitty keyboard is so tiny! Well, here is the second to final chapter of Ordinary Days, the next one will be an epilogue , written 5 years into the future.

Minor characters will be introduced there, and just some after thoughts, after all... Did anyone notice I left out Ryoga? Hrmm :)


	14. Chapter 14: Epilogue, 5 Years Later

**Disclaimer: **Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Ordinary Days

by pahlee

Chapter 14: Epilogue, 5 Years Later

Ucchan's is the biggest name in Japan, its main branch in Nerima, Japan. The next best place to eat was the Cat Cafe, with its live performances every Saturday night. Turns out that Ryoga finally checked in on Nerima to say he has been happily married the last two years with Akari, and was going to come up with his wife to see a match that was coming up soon in town featuring one of their pigs.

Akane smiled down at the letter in her hands and grinned wildly when her husband snaked an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek, only to be disrupted by three voices going, "Ewww!" The two laughed as they glanced over to their three sons who stuck their tongue out at them.

"Whhaat?" Ranma said as he went around his wife and picked up the kids and hugging them, "Daddy can't kiss mommy?" His youngest son interjected, "It's gross!" Akane chuckled as she slowly got up from her seat and took the youngest one into her arms and kissed his forehead, "Now, Naoto daddy likes mommy's kisses just like you do," her son squirmed and stuck his tongue out playfully, "But momma! Its gross when two adults kiss, all mushy!"

Akane laughed as she hugged her youngest son only to feel her skirt being tugged in two directions, looking to find her other two sons, Hideaki and Chikao at the hem. She looked up to see Ranma give her a half shrug and a big grin, "Apparently they love mommy more, honey."

She smiled as she knelt down slowly to include them in the embrace, and at this, her eldest, Chikao put his hand on her stomach, "When is our little sister coming?" A smile tugging at her lips, Akane replied, "Soon little one, soon." Ranma was behind the four with an all too proud grin present on his face, "That's right, soon."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

(...)

Five years ago, after Ranma and Akane returned from the States where Ranma had proposed to her in the Getty Center's gardens, they started their life together as real fiancees. It was after their high school graduation that they actually married and took over the dojo and house.

The next year Nabiki got married to Miyazaki. This was the time Kasumi was pregnant with her daughter Ayumi. Soun moved in with them not long after and helped in caring for his granddaughter. Nabiki and Miyazaki lived in Tokyo, but kept in touch frequently. Genma returned to live with his wife, and openly played shogi with Soun every evening.

Over that span, Ucchan's expansion was complete and open for business all over Japan. Ucchan's became the leading food industry, and the Cat Cafe coming in second. The Amazons had stayed in Japan and even started doing performances that Kodachi Kuno even partook in, on Saturday nights. Mousse had returned to China and married someone by the name Jiaying (who they call Jing) and they had one kid together.

It was the following year that Akane's stomach started to show, as well as Nabiki's. Nabiki had her daughter, Ren, in the winter, and Akane followed suit in the spring. During her pregnancy, everyone noticed that her stomach was quite bigger than when Kasumi or Nabiki was pregnant.

Imagine their surprise when the news that Ranma and Akane were expecting triplets. They had three beautiful sons whom they named Chikao, Hideaki, and Naoto. For the next three years, they lived in harmony where Ranma taught the advance classes in the morning, and Akane taught beginning courses in the afternoon. But after Akane started to show again, Ranma had to take over.

This time the news was she was expecting a baby girl. Ranma and Akane's excitment could not be contained by that news and began to accomodate. During this, she recieved a letter from Ryoga.

(...)

"Has it really been five years since we last heard from Ryoga?" Akane said as she folded the letter away neatly and placed it in the center of the table. Ranma had just put the kids down for an afternoon nap when he plopped down next to his expecting wife, "Seems that way, honey," he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Kids aren't around..." He whispered.

Akane giggled as she turned her head and kissed him lightly on the lips, "Silly..." He smiled at her and let out a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and thought about the letters him and Ryoga had traded, how he got cured and he sent along the cure in a package that he surprised with Akane on their second anniversary, along with the fact Akane never found the truth about P-chan. A slight sweat built up when he remembered that, but quickly casted it off to the side as he looked at Akane. She had taken his hand in hers and smiled, "Can we name her Aoi?"

He gave a squeeze to her hand and smiled, "Anything you want, baby."

It was later that night, five years after the fact, in the Nerima hospital, the Saotome family recieved a new member: Aoi Saotome, 7lbs, 12oz, 18 inches.

**###**

**A/N: **And that wraps up my story, where everyone went and how it should end, honestly this chapter is give or take, this is just a glimpse of a future I think they would have. Oh yes, I went there, triplets baby. Hehe.

I finished writing this after I got off work at 4am. :) Thanks for reading! Be sure to be on the look out for my new chapter long series coming soon!


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